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A^^l•llBRARYa^       ^IIIBRARYO/: 

Mi  Mi 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/conditionofwomanOObentiala 


THE 


CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

IN  THE 

UNITED    STATES. 


THE 


CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 


IN  THE 


UNITED  STATES. 

a  Cra6eller*0  'Nottti. 

By  MADAME  BLANC 
(Th.  Bentzon). 


TRANSLATED  BY 

ABBY  LANGDON  ALGER. 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS    BROTHERS. 
1895. 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  Roberts  Brothers. 


All  rights  reserved. 


John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.S.A. 


Education 
Library 

CONTENTS. 


Page 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Madame  Blanc  ...        7 

Chapter 

I.    First  Impressions. —  In  Chicago. — Women's 

Clubs 19 

II,    Boston 91 

III.  Colleges   for  Women.  —  Co-education. — 

University  Extension 165 

IV.  A  Woman's    Prison.  —  Homes   and    Clubs 

for  Working  Women.  —  Domestic  Life. 
—  Industrial  Schools.  —  Agricultural 
Institute  at  Hampton  :  Negroes  and 
Negresses 225 


881G24 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF  MADAME 
BLANC. 


Well-known  though  the  pen-name  of  Th.  Bentzon 
may  be,  the  charming  woman  who  has  made  it 
one  of  the  best  loved  and  most  respected  names 
in  contemporary  literature,  is  far  less  so.  She 
dislikes  every  attempt  at  publicity,  and  her  works 
appear  with  no  stir  of  trumpets.  Reporters  have 
never  described  her  person  or  her  parlor,  and  the 
boldest  interviewer  has  never  dragged  from  her  an 
opinion  on  any  subject.  Outside  her  immediate 
circle,  *  she  exists  only  through  her  work.  So 
when  I  came  to  Paris  a  few  years  ago,  I  was 
quite  ready  to  believe,  on  the  faith  of  a  few 
imaginary  accounts,  that  the  pseudonym  Bentzon 
belonged  to  a  learned  Frenchman  living  in  Ger- 
many, a  professor  at  some  university  beyond  the 
Rhine.  A  little  more  love  of  notoriety  would 
certainly  have  prevented  such  errors. 

The  fact  is,  that  in  Madame  Blanc  the  woman 
of  the  world  and  the  woman  of  taste  came  before 
the  worker  and  professional  writer  who  for  some 


8  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

twenty-five  years  has  never  for  a  single  instant 
lost  interest  in  her  art,  who  has  produced  more 
than  a  score  of  novels  and  tales  and  countless  criti- 
cisms.    She  could  not  submit  to  the  noisy  puffery 
common  in  the  literature  of  the  day;  the  peculiar- 
ities which  are  so  many  tricks  to  attract  atten- 
tion, which  amuse  and  stimulate  vulgar  curiosity, 
are  contrary  to  her  education  and  her  nature ;  she 
therefore   voluntarily  renounced   that  portion  of 
commonplace    popularity    which    depends    upon 
these  indiscreet  demonstrations.     It  is  a  sacrifice 
for  which  we  need  not  pity  her,  since  she  has 
been  rewarded  by  the  respect  and  attachment  of 
a  select  circle.     No  one  has  more  friends  or  more 
devoted  friends.     She  attracts  and  holds  them, 
thanks  to   her  steady  cheerfulness,   her  gayety, 
the  solid  and  brilliant  charms  of  her  conversa- 
tion ;  thanks  also  to  the  charm  of  her  vigorous 
and    robust  animation,    shown   without   display, 
without   great   expenditure,    but   merely  by   the 
free,  regular  and  harmonious  play  of  her  facul- 
^ties.  ,__She    produces     in    the     highest     degree 
>X  .  the  rarest  impression  which  can  be  made  by  a 
-<    modern  woman,  —  that  of  a  being  in  full  posses- 
I    sion  of  herself,  perfectly  balanced  and  perfectly 
/      healthy.     It  is_the^jvery  j;race  of   strength  and 
V  moderation. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.  9 

Like  others,  however,  Madame  Blanc  has 
known  the  difficulties  and  the  disappointments 
of  a  literary  career;  like  others  she  might  have 
hoarded  up  grudges  had  such  been  her  humor, 
and  if  the  obstacles  and  ill-will  encountered  at 
the  outset  ever  left  any  sense  of  bitterness  in 
those  who  conquer  them  by  dint  of  persever- 
ance and  courage.  I  think  it  was  shortly  before 
the  war,' that  Madame  Blanc,  born  de  Solms,  be- 
gan to  write.  The  name  Bentzon,  then  assumed 
by  her,  was  the  family  name  of  her  mother,  to 
which  she  added  her  own  Christian  name  Theresa, 
—  Th.  Bentzon,  which  some  biographers  have 
turned  into  the  masculine  name  of  Thomas,  and 
others  still  more  imaginative  into  Theodore. 

An  almost  cosmopolitan  education,  which  gave 
her  a  thorough  knowledge  of  foreign  languages 
and  literatures,  opened  to  the  young  girl  a  varied 
field  of  study  and  observation.  Her  first  read- 
ing was  done  in  English,  and  Walter  Scott's 
"  Waverley  "  caused  the  most  vivid  emotion  of  her 
childhood.  Later  on,  vast  insights  into  life 
and  the  world  dawned  upon  her  secluded  youth. 
Without  largely  mingling  with  it,  she  entered 
the  society  of  the  end  of  the  Second  Empire; 
and  together  with  her  abstract  culture,  this  asso- 
ciation, brief  and  involuntary  as  it  was,  furnished 


10  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

her  with  a  rich  harvest  of  facts  and  experiences. 
Nor  was  she  without  literary  protectors.  Her 
father-in-law,  Count  d'Aure,  equerry  to  Napoleon 
III.,  was  a  friend  of  George  Sand,  whose  support 
he  won  for  her,  and  who  ever  after  felt  the  most 
kindly  and  affectionate  intei:est  in  her. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  seems  as  if  she 
had  only  to  be  seen  to  succeed.  But  —  and  this 
may  serve  as  a  lesson  to  those  who  believe  in 
the  supreme  power  of  recommendations,  and  who 
fancy  that  they  are  unjustly  misunderstood, 
while  all  barriers  vanish  before  beginners  who 
have  good  backers  —  she  had  to  struggle,  she  had 
disappointments  to  endure;  and  when  success 
came,  it  was,  as  it  always  is,  because  she  had 
worked  hard  and  asserted  her  talent. 

Editors  began  to  think  better  of  this  woman 
whom  they  had  considered  too  young,  too  fash- 
ionable, and  ill-prepared  for  labor.  Illustrated 
papers,  sporting  journals,  published  some  little 
things  from  her  pen.  Her  most  important  work 
appeared  in  the  "Revue  Moderne,"  which  had 
a  small  circulation,  and  was  but  little  read. 
Still,  one  of  her  stories  caught  the  eye  of  M. 
Bertin,  editor  of  the  "D6bats,"  who  gave  the 
writer  a  commission.  The  work  was  finished 
and  delivered  just  as  the  war  of  1870  broke  out, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.  II 

and  the  scene  was  laid  wholly  in  Germany. 
However,  the  "  D6bats  "  had  the  courage  to  keep 
it,  and  to  publish  it  in  1871. 

It  was  afterwards  published  in  book  form  by 
Hetzel,  under  the  name  of  "Divorce."  M.  Buloz 
noticed  it,  and  opened  the  pages  of  the  "  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondes  "  to  Madame  Blanc.  Here  she 
published  "La  Vocation  de  Louise,"  which  be- 
gan a  long  period  of  happy  and  fruitful  produc- 
tion. "  Une  Conversion,"  "Une  Vie  Manquee," 
"L'  Obstacle,"  "Tete  Folle,"  "Desir6  Turpin," 
"La  Perle,"  "La  Grande  Sauli^re,"  "Georgette," 
and  "Tony"  appeared  in  rapid  succession.  All 
these  stories  were  most  favorably  received  by  the 
public,  and  strengthened  the  reputation  of  their 
author.  At  the  same  time  solid  and  brilliant 
sketches  of  English  and  American  literature 
made  Madame  Blanc  known  in  other  countries. 
Now  that  she  has  gained  the  victory,  she  delights 
in  looking  back  on  those  peaceful  and  busy 
years.  Her  mother,  the  Countess  d'Aure,  who 
lived  with  her,  by  her  ceaseless  care  insured 
the  quiet  needful  for  work;  she  saw  her  son,  des- 
tined to  become  a  scholar  and  a  famous  explorer, 
grow  to  manhood.  Everything  smiled  upon  the 
stern  choice  which  she  made  when  she  sought 
from  her  pen  the  dignity  and  security  of  her  life. 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

The  death  of  the  Countess  d'Aure  introduced 
a  great  grief  into  that  happily  organized  exis- 
tence. But  here  again  Madame  Blanc  found  com- 
fort in  her  love  of  work,  and  in  the  regular 
exercise  of  her  art.  It  is  since  this  bereavement 
that  she  has  given  us  her  fine  story  of  "Con- 
stance,"—  a  strong  and  pathetic  study  of  a 
struggle  with  conscientious  scruples  in  a  deli- 
cately moulded  soul.  Some  have  considered  it 
as  an  argument  against  divorce;  but  the  author 
objects  to  all  homilies.  Her  purpose  was  to  show 
the  novel  form  imparted  by  recent  social  changes 
to  the  struggle  between  duty  and  passion,  between 
personal  instinct  and  a  spirit  of  sacrifice.  In  a 
soul  as  noble  as  that  of  Constance  Videl,  the 
absolute  —  that  is  to  say,  goodness  —  very  nat- 
urally triumphs.  But  if  goodness  be  one  and 
indivisible,  if  it  consist  solely  in  conforming  our 
conduct  to  faith  and  the  moral  guidance  which 
we  have  accepted,  it  is  by  no  means  true  that 
this  faith  must  of  necessity  be  always  the  same. 
Different  creeds  entail  different  duties.  Divorce, 
condemned  by  the  Catholic  Church,  may  be  justi- 
fied elsewhere.  Nothing  therefore  matters  save 
loyalty  and  courage;  and  moral  truth  depends 
wholly  on  the  relation  established  between  the 
spiritual  life  and  the  practical  life,  and  upon  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.  1 3 

rigor  with  which  it  is  maintained.  Madame 
Blanc,  whatever  her  religious  ideas  may  be,  never 
meant  to  say  anything  else;  and  we  should  fail 
to  appreciate  the  meaning  of  her  work,  were  we 
'to  claim  for  it  any  dogmatic  character. 

Setting  aside  all  mental  reservations  of  this 
nature,  we  may  note  an  interesting  fact,  —  a  fact 
which  bears  not  only  on  "Constance,"  but  on  all 
our  author's  novels.  Madame  Blanc  has  always 
been  ranked  with  idealist  writers;  but  her  ideal- 
ism, which  is  sometimes  objective  and  poetic,  as 
in  that  delicious  revery  known  as  "  La  Grande 
Sauliere,"  is  first  and  foremost  subjective  and 
moral  idealism. 

Let  me  explain.  She  is  thoroughly  familiar 
with  men  and  life;  and  in  the  outlines  of  her 
characters,  in  the  development  of  her  plots,  there 
is  much  of  the  splendid  illusionism  with  which 
George  Sand,  for  instance,  confused  all  positive 
ideas.  She  knows  the  importance  of  social  rank 
and  of  wealth,  and  takes  these  determinations  of 
fact  into  account.  There  are  cases  where  her 
perspicacity,  her  quick  insight  are  such  that  she 
becomes  almost  a  realist.  Is  there  not  realism 
of  the  saddest  and  also  of  the  most  powerful  kind 
in  "Tony,"  the  story  of  the  aberrations  of  M. 
d'Arman^on,   the  country  gentleman  given  over 


14  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

to  drink  and  to  the  low  empire  of  a  covetous  and 
crafty  maid-servant?  Jacqueline,  one  of  Madame 
Blanc's  latest  heroines,  is  also  full  of  terrible 
realism,  with  her  girlish  independence,  her  men- 
tal passion  for  a  mature  man,  most  truly  and  most 
carefully  drawn.  The  constituent  element,  there- 
fore, of  Madame  Blanc's  idealism  is  not  the  nature 
of  her  observation,  which  is  always  calm  and  sen- 
sible, often  bold;  it  is  the  firm  control  which 
she  holds  over  the  desires  and  passions  impelling 
her  heroes  and  heroines,  the  supremacy  of  the 
moral  law,  the  invincible  faith  which  we  feel 
that  she  has  in  the  higher  destiny  which  all  of 
us  must  needs  work  out,  whatever  the  conditions 
of  this  material  life  may  be,  by  the  practice  of 
virtue  and  the  cultivation  of  the  will,  and  conse- 
quently the  healthy  conscience  shown  by  almost 
all  these  characters,  at  least  of  those  who  play  the 
chief  parts  in  her  works.  They  are  usually  very 
varied,  very  real;  they  are  most  natural,  neither 
too  good  nor  too  bad,  but  endowed  with  a  great 
power  of  emotion,  of  prompt  action,  something 
both  decided  and  mobile;  their  intensity  of  life 
and  desire  would  render  them  very  prone  to  err; 
they  are  able  to  sin  as  well  as  to  do  right.  If 
they  almost  always  avoid  sin,  it  is  therefore  be- 
cause they  have  faith  and  purpose,  because  an 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.  1 5 

essential  and  permanent  element  governs  the  fan- 
tasies pf  their  instinct  and  their  visions.  And 
their  conscience  partakes  of  the  vivacity,  the 
nobility,  of  their  character;  clear  and  decided, 
it  has  prompt  and  decisive  reactions.  Lucienne 
d'Arman^on,  who  reaches  the  verge  of  crime  be- 
fore she  finds  repentance  and  regeneration  in  her 
very  sin  itself,  in  the  intoxication  of  the  crime 
which  she  was  about  to  commit,  is  but  a  sort  of 
synthesis  of  Madame  Blanc's  characters.  Not 
one  is  passive,  not  one  accepts  his  fate;  they 
always  react.  They  therefore  produce  a  consol- 
atory effect,  in  spite  of  their  misfortunes  or  their 
faults.  We  feel  that  they  possess  a  valor,  a  rec- 
titude of  feeling,  which  will  cause  them  to  con- 
quer everything.  They  are  never  languid,  or  op- 
pressed. The  last  thing  to  be  found  in  her  work 
—  bright,  kindly,  and  healthy  as  the  mind  which 
conceived  it —  is  melancholy  or  nostalgia. 

Great  simplicity  and  great  vigor  of  action  re- 
sult, in  Madame  Blanc's  tales,  from  this  strong 
moral  constitution  of  her  characters.  As  soon 
as  her  characters  are  settled,  her  story  must  be 
finished;  indeed,  these  determined,  free  and  yet 
well-disciplined  creatures  seem  to  move  alone. 
And  what  makes  them  peculiarly  interesting  from 
this  point  of  view  is  the  fact  that  most  of  them 


l6  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

are  very  young.  Now,  in  France  extreme  youth, 
especially  extreme  feminine  youth,  does  no.t  exist, 
has  scarcely  any  history.  Look  at  the  young 
girls  in  French  plays,  —  all  alike  in  dress  and  in 
conversation,  with  the  same  melancholy  smile, 
the  same  speeches,  the  same  airs  of  a  wounded 
dove.  Nothing  personal,  nothing  distinctive, 
nothing  that  betrays  individuality.  The  young 
French  girl  is  naturally  so  cast  into  the  shade 
that  her  timidity  becomes  a  necessary  ornament, 
as  it  were  the  outward  sign  of  her  moral  qual- 
ities; the  racial  instinct  of  the  French  always 
leads  them  back  to  innocent  simplicity  as  an 
ideal,  and  they  cannot  help  believing  in  the  virtue 
of  ignorance  and  credulity.  Here  again  Madame 
Blanc's  cosmopolitan  education  shows  itself. 
Before  the  day  of  Gyp,  who  has  gone  too  far  in  her 
reaction,  and  whose  Paulettes  and  Chiffons  are 
really  too  emancipated  and  too  free  with  their 
tongues,  she  created  various  living  and  natural 
figures  of  young  girls,  who  are  at  the  same  time 
amiable  and  admirable.  They  have  the  graces 
of  their  sex  and  age;  and  they  are  also  human 
beings,  who  accept  their  share  of  the  struggles 
of  fate,  or  are  making  ready  for  them.  Perhaps 
they  lack  that  first  flower,  that  bloom  of  inno- 
cence, which  pleases  a  certain  dilettanteism ;  but 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH.  I7 

it  is  questionable  whether  we  are  not  mistaken 
in  denying  an  entire  class  of  beings  the  instinct 
and  prescience  of  life;  whether  instead  of  crea- 
tions which  we  wish  to  make  ideally  pure,  we  are 
not  fashioning  empty  puppets;  whether  we  are 
not  clothing  selfish  and  sometimes  morbid  fan- 
cies in  the  rosy  garb  of  artless  maidens. 

I  have  already  said  that  Madame  Blanc's 
sketches  of  English  and  American  literature  have 
won  her  a  brilliant  reputation  and  many  friends 
across  the  Channel  and  the  Atlantic.  She  has 
several  times  visited  England ;  and  lately,  friendly 
entreaties,  and  a  desire  to  see  with  her  own  eyes 
a  people  whom  she  had  long  studied  through 
their  writings,  led  her  to  undertake  a  voyage  to 
the  United  States.  She  spent  several  months 
there,  and  was  everywhere  received  with  open 
arms.  The  enlightened  public  of  American  cities 
greeted  her  with  enthusiasm.  She  has  brought 
back  countless  impressions  and  notes  of  her 
travels.  She  views  her  vast  subject  from  a 
special  point  of  view,  and  her  work  bears  the 
modest  title,  "The  Condition  of  Women  in  the 
United  States. "  But  in  the  United  States  woman- 
is  everything;  while  man  confines  himself  to- 
material  tasks,  trades  and  makes  money,  she- 
represents  the  intellectual  and  artistic  element,. 


1 8  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

is  at  the  head  of  all  moral  and  charitable  work. 
To  take  her  as  the  objective  point,  therefore,  is 
really  to  study  the  central  point  around  which 
everything  revolves.  To  be  convinced  of  this,  we 
have  only  to  read  what  she  says  of  the  Woman's 
Building  at  the  Chicago  Fair,  and  above  all  her 
description  of  Hull  House,  a  sort  of  phalanstery 
founded  by  Miss  Addams  in  a  suburb  of  the  city, 
where  the  outcasts  of  fate  find  shelter,  food,  in- 
struction, and  amusement.  Madame  de  Stael  had 
a  similar  dream  of  asocial  order,  where  man  was 
to  keep  the  hard  work  for  himself;  while  woman, 
jFree  at  last  to  cultivate  her  intellect  and  her 
soul,  might  become  a  sort  of  fairy  distributor  of 
goodness  and  beauty.  She  did  not  expect  to  see 
her  splendid  dream  so  quickly  realized,  and  she 
would  have  watched  its  realization  with  passionate 
interest.  Perhaps  there  are  still  some  shadows  to 
the  picture;  but  Madame  Blanc  is  too- womanly, 
too  merciful  to  her  sex,  thus  far  unprepared  for 
the  perfection  of  public  virtues,  not  to  throw  a 
veil  over  them.  It  is  for  her  to  show  us  these 
manifestations  of  feminine  personality  and  intel- 
ligence from  their  attractive  side;  and  we  can 
readily  excuse  her  from  showing  us  the  faults. 

Mario  Bertaux. 


THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

IN   THE 

UNITED    STATES. 


A  TRAVELLER'S  NOTES. 
I. 

FIRST    IMPRESSIONS. —  IN    CHICAGO. —  WOMEN'S 
CLUBS. 

Much  has  been  written  in  regard  to  woman 
in  the  United  States.  M.  de  Varigny  has  al- 
ready shown  us  the  source  of  her  influence,  in 
a  series  of  studies  in  the  "Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes."  ^  In  these  studies  he  goes  back  to  the 
time  when  the  heroic  exiles  who  came  over  in 
the  "Mayflower"  helped  their  fathers  and  their 
husbands  to  build  the  primitive  cabin  destined 
to  serve  alike  as  church  and  school.  The  equals 
of  man,  from  the  first,  they  became  his  superiors 
—  so    it    seems  —  by    intellectual    culture    and 

1  March  15,  May  15,  September  i,  1889. 


20  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

refinement.  While  the  head  of  the  family  devotes 
himself  wholly  to  business,  they  personify  at  his 
side  —  or  far  from  him,  for  the  household  is  often 
divided  —  elegance,  pleasure,  and  luxury.  We 
know  these  American  women  through  meeting 
them  in  Paris,  and  we  see  them  at  the  first  glance 
in  New  York.  Possibly,  all  women  of  fashion, 
whose  idle  existence  is  spent  in  great  capitals, 
watering-places,  winter  resorts,  and  gay  seashore 
hotels,  are  all  cut  out  much  after  the  same  pat- 
tern. Without  any  real  originality,  each  of 
them  represents  that  cosmopolitan  society  which 
has  no  native  land.  Their  essentially  artificial 
type  has  figured  to  excess  in  novels  and  plays ;  we 
have  no  desire  to  recur  to  it.  But  side  by  side 
with  millionnaires  and  professional  beauties, 
in  America  as  elsewhere,  there  is  a  far  more 
numerous  class,  concerning  which  much  less  has 
been  said, —  a  class  corresponding  to  the  better 
part  of  the  French  middle  classes.  If  you  tell  me 
that  there  are  no  classes  in  the  great  republic,  I 
can  but  reply  that  this  is  a  mistake.  Besides  the 
brutal  distinctions  established  by  the  greater  or 
less  amount  of  dollars,  we  soon  discover  an  in- 
finity of  degrees  created  by  birth,  surroundings, 
and  education.  To  know  America  thoroughly  it 
is  not  enough  to  gaze  at  this  or  that  wandering 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  21 

star:  we  must  frequent  the  best  society  of  Bos- 
ton, New  York,  and  Philadelphia;  we  must  visit 
the  Southern  States  so  sorely  tried  by  war;  we 
must  penetrate  the  remote  farms  of  the  West ;  in 
short,  we  must  study  woman  in  the  far-distant 
corners  of  that  continent  made  up  (not  to  men- 
tion the  territories)  of  forty-four  States,  not  one 
of  which  is  so  small  as  Switzerland,  and  some  of 
which  are  much  larger  than  France.  To  form  a 
final  judgment  without  making  this  preliminary 
inquiry,  is  almost  as  absurd  as  to  hold  all  Euro- 
pean women  in  light  esteem.  Americans  of 
North,  South,  West,  and  East  have  nothing  in 
common  but  certain  traits  which  they  owe  to 
their  common  school  education  and  their  familiar 
acquaintance  with  liberty.  It  struck  me  that  the 
best  way  to  mark  the  differences  would  be  to  set 
down  accurately  the  notes  taken  from  day  to  day 
during  a  journey  of  several  months'  duration,  — a 
woman's  notes  about  everything  that  relates  to 
the  condition  of  women. 

The  moment  is  favorable,  since  the  important 
question  of  extending  the  right  of  suffrage  to  a 
sex  which  already  possess  so  many  privileges  is 
just  now  more  than  ever  the  subject  of  debate 
before  the  legislatures  of  the  Union.  As  we_all_ 
know,  women  have  for  sometime  been  allowed  to 


22  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

vote  in  Wyoming;  in  1889  they  obtained  the 
right  of  municipal  suffrage  in  Kansas;  so  also, 
I  believe,  in  Colorado;  in  half  the  other  States 
they  cast  their  ballots  in  all  matters  pertaining 
to  schools  and  to  public  instruction.  It  now 
depends  upon  their  own  will  to  advance  far 
beyond  this  point.  Incautiously  directed,  the 
woman  question  may  become  as  embarrassing  as 
the  immigration  or  the  negro  question;  and  with 
all  possible  prudence,  there  can  be  no  half  way 
measures!  Let  us  therefore  consider  it  at  the 
most  favorable  moment.  Moreover,  the  notes 
which  follow,  although  jotted  down  at  odd  inter- 
vals, may  still  possess  the  merit  of  throwing  some 
light  on  the  future  fate  of  our  Old  World.  The 
New  World  has  already  borrowed  many  good 
things  from  us ;  it  gives  us  back  in  return  others 
which  contain  a  strange  mixture  of  good  and  evil. 

Types  and  Aspects. 

American  society  was  represented  in  abstract 
on  the  boat  which  bore  me  from  Havre  to  New 
York,  causing  much  amazement  and  many  errors 
on  the  part  of  such  as  were  not  yet  familiar  with  it. 

There  was  a  scornful  and  very  elegant  group 
of  American  Anglomaniacs,  —  those  Americans 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.      .  23 

whose  compatriots  declare  that  they  turn  up  their 
trousers  on  Broadway  in  fine  weather  because  it  is 
raining  in  London ;  servile  copyists  of  English 
fashions,  bearing,  and  manners,  more  or  less  apt 
efforts  to  assume  the  supercilious  arrogance  and 
systematic  exclusiveness  which  befit  the  repre- 
sentatives of  aristocracy.  The  women  walk  the 
deck  in  cloth  gowns  knowingly  cut  by  the  most 
famous  tailor  in  London,  their  hands  in  their 
pockets  with  the  free  and  easy  air  of  a  lady  visit- 
ing her  stables  before  she  mounts  her  horse. 
All  the  young  men  are  carefully  shaven  as  befits 
New  York  dudes;  they  condemn  their  face  to 
utter  impassivity,  affect  sporting  slang  and  a 
mirthless,  jerky  laugh,  with  the  pronunciation  of 
modish  Englishmen  who  drop  a  letter  in  talking, 
just  as  the  same  set  in  France  mercilessly  sup- 
press all  connectives.  I  think  I  can  guess  that 
these  Americans  have  never  done  anything  but 
spend  abroad  the  fortune  painfully  acquired  by 
their  fathers  in  some  form  or  other  of  trade :  but 
my  ignorance  is  enlightened.  I  stand  in  the 
presence  of  the  purest  of  blue  blood,  of  so-called 
Knickerbocker  families.  That  large  lady,  for 
instance,  who  scarcely  ever  leaves  her  stateroom, 
figures  among  the  Four  Hundred  in  New  York. 
I  need  say  no  more. 


24  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

I  have  now  the  measure  of  the  social  divisions 
which  exist  in  the  land  of  equality.  To  cope 
with  the  insolence  of  newly-won  wealth,  one  must 
be  able  to  point  to  pre-Revolutionary  ancestors, 
or  at  least  to  ancestors  who  distinguished  them- 
selves during  the  Revolution.  Those  who  can 
boast  of  a  Dutch  or  Swedish  name  established  in 
the  country  before  the  English  rule,  feel  all  the 
pride  of  a  Rohan  or  a  Montmorency;  and  even 
those  who  do  not  possess  these  great  advantages 
hasten,  as  soon  as  possible,  on  any  pretext  what- 
soever, to  draw  the  line  as  distinctly  as  possible 
between  themselves  and  common  mortals.  Hence 
a  very  droll  statement,  such  as  abound  in  the  land 
of  humor:  "Since  the  line  absolutely  must  be 
drawn  somewhere,  many  people  draw  it  at  their 
own  father."  Never,  until  I  went  to  America, 
did  I  understand  how  humiliating  it  may  be  to 
bear  the  name  of  Smith  or  Jones. 

The  great  personages  of  our  boat  form  a  party 
by  themselves.  They  seem  determined  to  make 
no  acquaintances.  At  the  utmost,  now  and  then, 
the  men,  less  absolute  than  the  other  sex  in  the 
matter  of  prejudices,  descend  from  their  pedestal 
to  chat  with  some  pretty  woman.  Among  these 
latter  is  a  young  girl.  She  cannot  smile  without 
showing  alluring  dimples;  accordingly  she  smiles 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  2$ 

continually.  She  is  dressed  like  a  picture,  in  the 
style  suited  to  a  long  voyage;  she  seems  to  find 
universal  favor.  I  do  not  discover  until  we  land 
that  she  is  a  mere  shop-girl.  In  the  South,  more 
than  one  daughter  of  a  good  family,  ruined  by  the 
war  of  secession,  is  forced  to  work  for  a  living. 
This  piquant  brunette  is  from  Louisiana;  she 
earns  a  large  salary  in  one  of  the  chief  shops  of 
New  Orleans.  During  her  vacation  she  visited 
Hungary  (the  home  of  her  ancestors),  Germany, 
and  France.  She  has  read  plenty  of  French 
novels.  Southern  shop-girls  pride  themselves 
on  their  literary  tastes;   some  of  them  are  said 

to  write  for  local  magazines.   Miss professes 

a  sincere  worship  of  George  Sand,  despite  the  air 
of  reserve  assumed  by  some  of  our  passengers  at 
the  sound  of  that  name.  "But,"  she  says,  wax- 
ing eloquent  in  regard  to  "Consuelo,"  "her  hero- 
ines are  too  perfect;  it  is  enough  to  discourage 
any  one  from  trying  to  be  virtuous."  And  the 
dimples  appear  at  the  corners  of  her  rosy  lips. 
Here,  indeed,  are  great  reverses  cheerfully 
endured. 

Nothing  can  be  prettier  than  to  see  the  young 
girls  walk  the  deck,  arm  in  arm,  escorted  by  ad- 
mirers of  various  ages,  whom  they  never  seem  to 
discourage   very    severely,  —  no    powder    to   be 


26  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

affected  by  the  salt  air,  abundant  tresses  which 
the  wind  may  release  without  danger  beneath  the 
Tam-o'-Shanter  or  the  naval  cap  which  are  almost 
universally  worn.  Even  the  old  ladies  have  them 
planted  on  their  scanty  locks,  although  they  are 
less  becoming  to  them. 

Let  us  confine  ourselves  to  the  young  girls. 
They  are  for  the  most  part  slender,  erect,  almost 
all  tall,  —  height  being  fashionable  in  New  York 
society,  whose  edict  rules,  and  wgmen^  as  we 
know,  always  finding  some  way  to  adapt  them- 
selves to  the  fashion  at  any  cost.  Some  show 
signs  of  what  they  call  "nervous  prostration." 
They  lack  the  robust  British  health,  nor  have 
they  usually  the  regular  features  of  the  fair 
English  girl;  and  although  certain  New  England 
damsels  reminded  me  of  Greek  statues  retouched 
by  the  hand  of  an  esthete,  we  must  admit  that 
in  the  West  the  mixture  of  races  often  produces 
types  of  but  little  distinction.  The  shape  is 
seldom  perfect,  however  smart  the  appearance 
may  be;  there  is  too  much  fragility,  too  much 
thinness.  In  an  assembly  of  women  in  low-cut 
dresses,  the  French  woman  would  surely  have 
the  advantage ;  therefore  she  bares  her  shoulders 
more  freely.  But  the  Americans  are  as  quick 
witted,    and  as   graceful  as   any  women   in  the 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  2/ 

world.  Those  on  the  steamer,  as  a  rule,  talk 
freely  with  all  the  men,  —  the  only  exception 
being  a  negro  gentleman  from  Hayti,  who  stalks 
about  in  melancholy  silence  wearing  a  Greek  fez 
embroidered  in  silver.  But  there  is  nothing  bold 
or  shocking  in  their  coquetry.  If,  instead  of 
being  young  girls,  they  were  so  many  young 
married  women,  we  should  think  their  conduct 
quite  correct ;  it  is  a  mere  question  of  the  point 
of  view.  Their  perpetual  motion,  their  airy 
lightness,  remind  me  of  the  gulls  continually 
soaring  about  the  blue  or  cloudy  sky,  swooping 
down  now  and  then  to  the  foam-crested  waves, 
and  again  resuming  their  capricious  flight.  So 
too  these  damsels  occasionally  sink  upon  their 
steamer-chairs,  arranged  in  sheltered  corners  well 
suited  to  conversation.  The  deck  stewards  bring 
up  their  luncheon,  which  they  eat  with  a  good 
appetite  while  they  watch  a  passing  vessel  or  the 
sunset. 

Sometimes  I  am  struck  by  their  lack  of  percep- 
tion in  regard  to  culinary  matters.  I  hear  them 
ask  for  sardines  and  lemonade;  mixtures  which 
strike  a  Frenchman  as  incongruous  are  in  high 
favor.  But  usually  they  seem  to  appreciate  the 
excellent  fare  of  the  transatlantic  steamers ;  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  members  of  temperance 


28  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

societies  who  vaunt  their  principles  so  loudly  as 
soon  as  their  foot  is  on  their  native  soil,  yield  a 
point  here  in  favor  of  the  red  and  white  wines 
which  are  so  freely  offered.  "  The  Yankees  are 
as  great  hypocrites  as  the  English,  to  say  the 
least,"  said  one  of  my  fellow-countrymen  met  by 
chance;  "when  they  refuse  to  drink  wine  with 
virtuous  excuses,  they  get  drunk  on  whiskey  at 
the  bar.  In  reality  their  coarseness  goes  beyond 
everything,  you'll  see;  they  are  always  spitting 
in  every  direction,  and  they  are  ignorant  of  the 
most  elementary  use  of  the  handkerchief!  As 
for  the  famous  flirt,  she  often  goes,  you  may  be 
sure,  to  the  last  extreme.  In  hotels  and  res- 
taurants there  is  always  a  special  door  for  ladies. 
.  .  .  Nonsense!  in  spite  of  this  absurd  precau- 
tion, friends  meet  on  the  other  side  again,  and 
the  devil  is  no  loser.   ..." 

I  take  leave  to  suggest  to  this  well-informed 
gentleman  that  the  purpose  of  the  ladies*  en- 
trance, which  is  quite  a  convenience,  may  not  be 
merely  to  create  an  absolute  separation  between 
the  two  sexes.  Moreover,  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  he  must  be  somewhat  like  the  traveller  who 
wrote  in  his  note-book,  "At  Tours,  all  the  women 
have  red  hair,"  because  one  red-haired  woman 
passed  him  in  the   street.     We  French  have  a 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  29 

passion  for  conclusions  and  generalizations.  If 
I  were  to  take  everything  literally  which  this 
fellow  tells  me,  I  should  believe  that  there  are 
no  more  interesting  establishments  in  America 
than  the  bar-rooms  paved  with  dollars;  that  all 
Americans,  without  exception,  talk  through  their 
noses;  and  that  their  daughters  are  ready  to  do 
anything  for  the  sake  of  getting  married. 

As  for  the  famous  nasal  twang,  we  soon  learn 
that  it  does  not  exist,  at  least  to  any  disagreeable 
extent,  among  well-educated  people;  and  daily 
experience  shows  us,  even  on  the  steamer,  that 
the  much  accused  flirt  may  be  ingenuous  enough 
after  all.  After  being  scandalized  by  the  glances, 
the  smiles  behind  a  fan,  the  airs  and  graces  of  all 
sorts  directed  like  a  well-fed  fire  by  one  of  our 
young  fellow-passengers  at  a  visibly  enamoured 
gentleman,  did  I  not  discover  that  this  guilty  con- 
versation was  nothing  but  an  innocent  game. 
Instead  of  talking  of  their  own  affairs,  they  were 
asking  each  other  conundrums!  The  Sphinx 
took  the  greatest  delight  in  tormenting  her  vic- 
tim; but  the  whole  world  might  have  listened 
and  heard  no  harm,  despite  the  evidence  of  our 
eyes.  And_  even  when  appearan.ces_are-plainly 
^hocking,  we  must  beware  of  a  frequent  source 
of  error :  the  most  vulgar  of  American  women  is 


30  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

as  well  dressed  as  the  most  aristocratic.  I  saw 
in  New  York  a  woman  who  sold  newspapers,  who, 
aside  from  her  business,  looked  like  a  lady,  and 
was,  it  seems,  distinctly  an  honest  creature,  in 
spite  of  the  frantic  coquetry  which  led  one  to 
suspect  her  of  anything  and  everything.  But  the 
honesty  like  the  coquetry  of  a  woman  who  sells 
newspapers  may  be  of  indifferent  delicacy.  The 
flirtations  witnessed  in  hotels  and  restaurants,  in 
cars  or  on  steamboats,  may  often  have  damsels  of 
a  like  category  for  their  heroines,  —  the  indepen- 
dence of  fashionable  young  girls,  their  free  and 
undaunted  manners,  often  leading  all  but  the 
most  clear-sighted  observer  into  blunders.  For 
instance,  on  board  ship.  Miss  X.  was  travelling 
alone;  one  day  she  asked  the  librarian  for  some 
French  books ;  she  chose  two,  "  Fromont  Jeune 
et  Risler  Ain6,"  and  "Mademoiselle  de  Maupin," 
then  turning  to  a  young  man  who  was  passing, 
she  asked  his  opinion  in  regard  to  her  purchase. 
And  here  I  admire  the  respect  shown  on  all 
occasions  by  the  American  men  to  a  woman  even 
if  unknown.  The  young  man  blushed  up  to  his 
eyes  as  he  read  the  title  of  Theophile  Gautier's 
masterpiece,  but  merely  said,  — 

"This  one,  by  Daudet,  is  a  good  book;  as  for 
the  other  —  " 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  3 1 

"Wicked?  So  much  the  better!"  interrupted 
the  mischievous  girl  laughing  aloud,  and  she  fled, 
bearing  off  her  booty,  which  she  brandished  with 
an  air  of  defiance. 

Is  this  perversity?  Is  it  innocence, —  the  inno- 
cence of  Daisy  Miller,  so  marvellously  painted 
by  Henry  James  that  his  compatriots  have  never 
forgiven  him  ?     Who  knows  ? 

The  demi-monde f  strictly  speaking,  does  not 
exist  in  America;  nevertheless,  there  must  be 
between  self-respecting  women  and  a  certain 
unmentionable  social  scum  a  third  category,  — 
the  numerous  category  of  more  or  less  yielding, 
more  or  less  rakish,  coquettes.  These  are  sought 
by  many  foreign  travellers.  Hence  general  state- 
ments in  regard  to  the  American  flirt,  only 
equalled  in  absurdity  by  the  fabulous  tales  which 
circulate  in  America  in  regard  to  the  adultery, 
almost  inseparable  from  marriage,  as  described 
by  French  novelists.  The  truth  is  that  women, 
when  they  are  what  is  amiably  styled  "  light," 
become  so  in  America  before  marriage  and  in 
Europe  afterwards;  but  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  there  are  many  more  irreproachable 
maidens  and  perfectly  faithful  wives  than  is 
believed  on  either  shore.  This  statement  is  not 
new,  but  it  can  never  be  repeated  too  often. 


32  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

The  World's  Fair:  The  Woman's  Building. 

I  was  one  of  the  latest  comers  at  the  World's 
Fair;  therefore  I  can  only  give  the  bewildering 
impression,  the  dream-like  memory  produced  by 
two  or  three  hasty  visits.  Our  exhibitions  had 
not  prepared  me  for  anything  of  the  sort.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  they  were  more  complete,  more  perfect 
in  detail;  but  they  did  not  attain  to  that  sum 
total  of  effect  which  in  my  memory  partakes 
somewhat  of  the  mirage, — a  mirage  which  van- 
ished instantly  after  the  first  dazzle,  as  every 
truly  magical  apparition  should  vanish.  I  had 
scarcely  time  to  see  the  princess  in  her  attire 
woven  of  sunbeams,  which  the  next  instant  was 
but  rags  and  tatters.  Never  did  a  metamorphosis 
occur  so  swiftly,  save  in  the  story  of  Cinderella. 
The  knell  of  the  Fair  was  sounded  on  October  31 ; 
the  next  day  nothing  was  left  but  the  orderly 
tumult  of  a  colossal  removal.  At  the  first  cold 
blast  of  autumn,  solitude  took  up  its  abode  in 
that  magnificent  court  of  honor,  where  for  the 
space  of  a  summer,  delegates  from  every  quarter 
of  the  globe  had  assembled,  amid  feasts  and  spec- 
tacles. Actors,  or  supernumeraries,  hastened  to 
salute  the  full  triumph  of  the  most  enchanting 
thing  on  earth,  — youth,  even  if  it  have  but  that 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  33 

fugitive  lustre  which  we  call  the  "beauts  du 
diable."  This  undoubtedly  was  somewhat  the 
order  of  the  beauty  of  the  countless  palaces 
which,  after  giving  us  the  illusion  of  marble, 
crumbled  into  dust  when  they  were  not  destroyed 
by  fire ;  but  what  matters  it,  if  during  their  brief 
existence  they  rivalled  Venice,  reflected  in  the 
mirror  of  lagoons  traversed  by  flat  gondolas?  I 
do  not  care  to  know  just  what  they  contained;  it 
displeased  me  to  think  that  they  had  a  useful  pur- 
pose, any  purpose  whatsoever.  I  only  know  that 
the  Adriatic  is  no  more  beautiful  than  Lake 
Michigan,  and  that  the  inspiration  of  genius  once 
evoked  upon  that  boundless  blue  sheet  the  snows 
of  a  phantom  city,  swift  to  fade  away  into  the 
blue  of  heaven. 

Next  to  the  poetry  of  that  ephemeral  apparition 
of  Greece,  Italy,  and  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  in 
the  American  West,  nothing  was  more  interest- 
ing than  the  attitude  assumed  in  view  of  it  by 
the  countless  sight-seers,  collected  from  all  parts 
of  the  New  World.  Their  admiration  showed 
itself  in  absorption.  There  we  became  ac- 
quainted, after  studying  the  most  diverse  speci- 
mens, with  a  people  strangely  master  of  itself 
and  its  emotions.  The  decorum  with  which,  if 
need   be,   it   lynches  without  passion   criminals 

3 


34  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

whom  the  law  does  not  touch,  is  amply  explained 
by  its  grave  attitude  when  at  play.  Europeans, 
more  expansive  and  more  turbulent,  think  its 
aspect  gloomy,  and  are  wont  to  deem  it  dull. 
But  this  dumb  herd  enjoys  things  in  its  own 
way.  A  farmer  from  the  far  West  became,  in 
my  hearing,  the  eloquent  interpreter  of  the  great 
majority,  expressing  his  deep  and  restrained  en- 
thusiasm in  almost  biblical  language.  What  he 
expressed,  others  felt ;  they  must  feel  it  more 
than  ever  in  intense  memory,  now  that  they  have 
returned  to  their  various  States.  Visions  similar 
to  those  of  the  apocalypse,  the  paradisal  splen- 
dors of  a  new  Jerusalem  illumined  by  changing 
electric  lights  and  bedewed  by  luminous  foun- 
tains, doubtless  follow  them  into  those  toilsome 
tasks  of  clearing  the  ground  so  well  depicted  by 
the  poet  pre-eminent  of  the  prairie,  Hamlin 
Garland:  "They  plough,  they  sow;  they  feed  the 
soil  with  their  own  life,  as  the  Indian  and  the 
buffalo  did  before  them." 

Having  done  justice  to  the  general  effect  of  the 
White  City,  I  feel  I  have  the  right  to  add  that  it 
contained  more  than  one  structure  in  bad  taste, 
and  that  the  Woman's  Building  in  particular 
failed  to  strike  me  as  a  masterpiece.  That  villa 
of   the    Italian    renaissance,    crowned  by   angels 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  35 

with  outspread  wings,  has  been  praised  even  to 
hyperbole  for  its  feminine  qualities  "of  reserve, 
delicacy,  and  distinction," — wholly  moral  qual- 
ities, which  may  not  suffice  when  it  is  a 
question  of  striking  out  from  the  stone  an  idea, 
be  it  great  or  small.  In  point  of  fact,  Miss 
Sophia  Hayden,  of  Boston,  a  graduate  of  the 
Massachusetts  School  of  Technology,  who  came 
off  victorious  from  a  national  competition  open 
to  all  ambitious  aspirants  of  her  sex,  did  not 
succeed  in  proving  that  architecture  is  one  of  the 
arts  in  which  the  woman  of  our  day  shines.  Nor 
were  the  decorative  groups  of  her  collaborator,  a 
young  Californian,  Miss  Rideout,  of  the  highest 
order.  I  might  say  the  same  of  the  paintings 
in  the  hall  of  honor.  Certainly  women  under- 
stand decoration  and  ornament  as  well  as  and 
better  than  any  one,  but  on  condition  that  they 
hold  aloof  from  the  two  ambitious  regions  of 
statuary  and  fresco.  And  yet  Mrs.  MacMonnies, 
Lucia  Fairchild,  the  Misses  Sherwood,  Emmet, 
Brewster,  and  Sewell  are  not  wanting  in  talent; 
and  indeed  Mary  Cassatt,  well  known  in  Paris, 
where  some  of  her  etchings  figure  in  the  Luxem- 
bourg collection,  has  a  great  deal.  Still,  they 
all  make  a  mistake  to  venture  into  the  domain  of 
Purls  de  Chavannes.     I  will  merely  allude  to  the 


36  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

very  characteristic  fashion  in  which  Miss  Cassatt 
conceives  the  subject  "Modern  Woman"  as  op- 
posed to  "Primitive  Woman," — her  lowly  labors, 
her  subjection  to  man,  her  mission  as  a  mother 
and  a  beast  of  burden,  all  recounted  to  us  by 
Mrs.  MacMonnies  on  a  sixty-foot  space  of  wall. 
The  central  part  of  the  panel  represents  the 
daughters  of  Eve  in  modern  fashionable  dress, 
in  an  orchard,  busily  gathering,  in  hundreds,  the 
fruits  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  of  which  their 
more  modest  ancestors  stole  but  one.  To  the 
left,  a  flying  figure  of  Glory  is  pursued  by  women, 
their  hair  floating  loose,  their  arms  outstretched, 
a  flock  of  ducks  at  their  heels.  To  the  right  a 
young  woman  lifts  her  skirts  with  an  audacious 
gesture,  just  ready  to  dash  into  Loie  Fuller's 
dance,  while  two  of  her  companions,  seated  on 
the  grass,  watch  her,  one  of  them  playing  on  a 
stringed  instrument.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
Miss  Cassatt  is  of  the  new  school.  Degas, 
Whistler,  and  Monet  are,  it  seems,  her  gods. 
But,  after  all,  she  is  herself;  and  the  merit  of 
individuality  can  be  attributed  to  but  very  few 
American  painters,  men  or  women.  Often  very 
strong  in  regard  to  technique,  they  have  thus  far 
been  incapable  of  freeing  themselves  wholly  from 
the  influence  of  their  French  or  German  masters. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  37 

Many  aspirants  to  high  art  would  do  better  to 
excel  in  flower-painting,  like  Miss  Greene,  of 
Boston;  to  distinguish  themselves  in  portrait- 
painting  or  in  water-colors,  like  Mrs.  Sarah 
Sears,  of  the  same  city.  Another  Boston  woman, 
Mrs.  S.  W.  Whitman,  is  also  deserving  of  praise. 
She  does  not  disdain  to  apply  her  great  artistic 
gifts  to  the  designing  of  exquisite  book-covers  for 
publishers,  or  to  the  composition  of  beautiful 
glass,  without  detriment  to  more  serious  tasks. 
She  has  profited  much  by  the  experiments  made 
by  the  chief  of  American  painters,  John  La 
Farge,  to  whom  his  country  and  the  world  owe 
the  renewal  of  the  art  of  making  glass  windows, 
some  fifteen  years  ago.  He  discovered  the  logi- 
cal use  of  lead,  which  in  ancient  glass  was  merely 
an  ugly  necessity,  and  made  it  an  element  of 
decorative  beauty,  —  so  utilizing  it  for  the  out- 
line of  his  figures  as  to  imitate  the  irregular 
touch  of  the  brush,  while  surprising  effects  were 
obtained  by  means  of  glasses  of  various  colors 
fastened  one  over  the  other  in  such  a  way  as  to 
increase  the  depth  and  breadth  of  tone,  or  to 
modify  the  transparency.  Mr.  La  Farge  then  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  using  fragments,  thought  de- 
fective, of  that  opalescent  glass  made  in  America 
in  imitation  of  porcelain.     The  heads  and  hands 


38  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

alone  still  have  to  be  painted,  in  this  translucent 
mosaic  held  together  by  lead  instead  of  cement, 
since  for  flesh,  expression  is  requisite.  We  have 
seen  John  La  Farge's  glass  at  French  Exhibi- 
tions, where  their  author's  merit  has  been  loudly 
acknowledged. 

The  triumphs  won  in  this  branch  of  industrial 
art  has  excited  great  rivalry;  hence  all  the  designs 
and   sketches  for   glass  to  be  seen   at  Chicago. 

The  illustrations  for  books  and  magazines  by 
women  struck  me  as  interesting.  I  may  men- 
tion Mrs.  Mary  Hallock  Foote,  who,  handling 
the  pencil  as  skilfully  as  the  pen,  embellishes 
her  own  stories  with  drawings  which  are  highly 
appreciated.  As  china  decorators  American 
women  are  decidedly  inferior  to  the  French, 
although  the  Cincinnati  Pottery  Club  send  prom- 
ising specimens.  On  the  whole,  the  professional 
schools  of  industrial  art  in  America  are  still  far 
from  equal  to  the  French,  in  spite  of  their  steady 
progress.  The  school  of  embroidery  scarcely  dates 
back  seventeen  years:  it  prospers,  encouraged 
by  lively  patronage;  but  its  workwomen  lack 
what  we  have  in  France,  —  stimulating  competi- 
tion with  women  of  the  best  society,  who  do  not 
scorn  to  devote  themselves  to  certain  kinds  of 
manual  labor  and  to  convert  them  into  art.     It 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  39 

was  enough  to  look  at  the  small  room  reserved 
for  the  work  of  French  ladies  to  note  this  differ- 
ence. Very  many  American  women  despise  the 
needle;  dressmakers  and  milliners  told  me  how 
hard  it  was  for  them  to  find  workers  even  at  high 
wages.  The  teacher's  diploma  is  the  objective 
point  which  turns  them  away  from  everything 
else. 

To  go  back  to  the  Woman's  Building.  It  is 
not  there  that  we  find  the  strongest  evidences  of 
talent.  In  every  land  women  make  a  mistake 
when  they  herd  together  by  themselves  to  exhibit 
their  work.  Competition  with  man  is  indispen- 
sable for  the  elimination  of  rubbish,  and  also  to 
set  forth,  not  always  the  inequality,  but  the  pro- 
found difference  in  the  gifts  and  aptitudes  of  the 
two  sexes.  This  does  not  imply  that  I  blame  the 
idea  itself  of  the  building.  Its  halls  for  meet- 
ings, for  organization,  etc.,  did  great  service, 
sheltered  the  congresses  and  associations  of 
women,  and  all  the  various  movements  directed 
by  women.  All  who  had,  or  thought  they  had, 
new  ideas  to  express,  found  a  hearing.  As  for 
women  musicians,  either  professional  or  amateur, 
a  jury  chosen  by  the  national  committee  on  music 
determined  whether  or  no  each  lady  should  take 
part  in  the  concerts  given  during  a  period  of  six 


40  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

months, —  the  fact  of  appearing  on  the  programme 
conferring  lasting  distinction.  We  were  thus 
enabled  to  gauge  the  rapid  and  increasing  de- 
velopment of  musical  taste  in  America.  Fine 
voices  are  common  there,  although  they  have 
long  been  reproached  with  a  lack  of  soul;  and 
instrumental  music  is  cultivated  with  the  earnest- 
ness and  persistence  brought  to  bear  on  their 
studies  by  American  women,  who  are  least  con- 
tent of  all  women  in  the  world  with  what  are 
called  "accomplishments."  They  may  have 
lacked  the  gift  of  feeling,  which  is  independent 
of  a  desire  to  learn;  it  was  however  developed 
years  ago  by  the  German  influence  prevailing  in 
many  cities,  and  by  weekly  classical  concerts 
scrupulously  attended.  A  large  share  of  the 
merit  due  for  this  education  belongs  to  Mr. 
Theodore  Thomas,  director  of  the  Section  of 
Music  at  Chicago. 

The  material  interests  of  poor  exhibitors  were 
not  neglected  in  the  Woman's  Building.  Every 
variety  of  article  made  by  feminine  hands  found 
a  market  there,  thanks  to  very  profitable  sales; 
and  cooking  lessons  were  given  daily,  a  matter 
of  inestimable  value  in  a  country  where  it  seems 
the  exception  for  a  woman  to  be  born  a  good 
housekeeper.     Up  to  the  last  the  Woman's  Build- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  4 1 

ing  was  the  very  expression,  if  we  may  say  so, 
of  the  broadest  hospitality.  The  Children's 
Building,  its  natural  annex,  enabled  mothers  of 
families  to  leave  their  little  ones  in  the  best  of 
care  while  they  visited  the  exhibition,  and  the 
children  themselves  to  learn  a  great  deal  while 
they  played,  for  there  were  lectures  and  shows 
and  a  library  suited  to  their  understanding. 
Nothing  was  better  worth  seeing  than  the  work- 
ing of  the  Kindergarten  and  the  kitchen -garden 
belonging  to  it.  Miss  Huntingdon,  of  New 
York,  who  established  the  latter,  directed  classes 
where  little  ones  played  at  making  a  bed,  at 
sweeping  and  dusting,  and  were  thoroughly 
taught  every  detail  of  housekeeping. 

When  we  think  of  the  vast  task  accomplished 
by  the  lady  managers  in  arranging  these  complex 
manifestations  of  feminine  progress,  in  the  space 
of  six  months,  we  feel  that  we  can  hardly  say  too 
much  in  praise  of  the  committee  headed  by  a  star 
of  Chicago  society,  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer,  who  had 
hitherto  enjoyed  a  reputation  only  for  beauty, 
elegance,  and  wealth,  but  who  at  once  rose  to  the 
full  magnitude  of  the  task  allowed  her.  Com- 
mittees of  ladies  had  already  contributed  largely 
to  the  success  of  the  two  great  exhibitions  at  New 
Orleans   and    Philadelphia,    but   the   distinctive 


42  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

feature  of  the  World's  Fair  was  the  official  intro- 
duction of  women  on  the  jury,  admitted  once  for 
all  to  protect  their  own  interests.  They  did  their 
work  with  remarkable  intelligence.  Let  us  over- 
look the  petty  discussions,  the  petty  rivalries, 
which,  if  we  are  to  trust  the  revelations  of  an 
indiscreet  press,  arose  between  certain  delegates 
from  various  States;  this  does  not  lessen  the 
proofs  of  devotion  and  zeal  afforded  by  the 
majority,  or  the  final  result  attained.  The 
avowed  object  of  the  exhibition  was  to  permit 
women  to  help  one  another,  and  each  one  of 
them  to  help  herself;  it  also  aimed  to  give  a 
clear  and  precise  idea  of  the  universal  condition 
of  woman  in  our  day.  This  double  end  was  at- 
tained. By  the  way,  the  set  statistics  sent  from 
Paris  showing  in  eighteen  tables,  the  part  played 
by  French  women  in  agriculture,  trade,  adminis- 
tration, education,  the  liberal  professions,  econ- 
omy, etc.,  were  more  complete  than  any  other, 
and  will  certainly  serve  as  a  model  for  any  future 
lists  of  this  sort. 

Let  us  note  one  very  happy  innovation :  every 
manufacturer  was  asked  to  say  whether  his  exhibit 
was  wholly  or  in  part  the  work  of  women,  thus 
insuring  to  each  her  share  of  praise.  The  com- 
mittee suggested  this;  they  also  proposed  many 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  43 

Other  valuable  things  which  will  endure.  Those 
who  may  wonder  at  the  experience  displayed  in 
such  matters  by  a  group  of  fashionable  women, 
do  not  know  what  a  school  in  organization  the 
clubs  to  which  they  belong  are  for  American 
women.  I  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  refer 
to  them,  as  I  travel  from  one  city  to  another  with 
my  readers. 

Women's  Clubs. 

The  first  women's  clubs  were  established  some 
twenty-five  years  ago  almost  simultaneously  in 
Boston  and  New  York.  From  that  time  on, 
under  the  protection  of  these  two  great  centres, 
especially  the  former,  similar  associations  have 
continually  arisen  in  the  various  States.  They 
now  number  more  than  three  hundred,  and  the 
General  League  which  embraces  them  all  lends 
them  new  strength.  Those  of  Chicago  are  partic- 
ularly active.  I  visited  the  two  principal  ones, 
—  the  Fortnightly  and  the  Woman's  Club. 

The  Fortnightly  is  exclusively  a  literary  club. 
I  found  it  established  in  elegant  rooms,  in  the 
Hotel  Richelieu;  women  of  all  ages,  in  street 
dress,  were  seated  in  large  numbers  before  the 
platform    occupied    by   the    president    and    two 


44  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

members  of  the  committee.  Mrs.  Amelia 
Gere  Mason,  well  known  through  her  book  on 
"Women  of  the  French  Salons,"  read  a  paper 
called  "Old  and  New  Types  of  Women," — a 
subject  chosen  according  to  the  usual  custom  and 
discussed  later,  objections  being  raised,  details 
added,  or  errors  corrected.  I  admired  the  ease 
of  manner  shown  by  all  the  ladies  who  spoke  in 
turn,  the  precision  of  their  opinions,  the  critical 
sense  which  they  displayed.  They  will  certainly 
enter  Congress  well  prepared  to  reason  con- 
secutively and  to  discuss  calmly,  —  the  thing 
which  women  of  all  countries  are  least  able 
to  do.  But  few  compliments  were  paid;  there 
was  no  desire  to  be  agreeable,  not  the  least  hes- 
itation to  speak  what  they  felt  to  be  the  truth, 
even  if  the  truth  were  an  unpleasant  one.  I  was 
equally  struck  by  the  good  temper  of  the  essayist 
thus  exposed  to  a  cross  fire.  It  is  evident  that 
periodical  meetings  of  this  nature  have  a  strong 
influence  on  the  mind  of  women,  on  their  powers 
of  conversation,  banishing  frivolous  and  too  per- 
sonal subjects,  accustoming  them  to  listen  atten- 
tively, to  refute  an  argument  logically.  At  the 
same  time  the  studies  required  in  advance  on  the 
most  various  subjects  relating  to  morals,  phi- 
losophy, science,  and  history,  sometimes  reveal 
genuine  literary  ability. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  45 

After  the  meeting,  tea  is  served ;  people  walk 
about  and  talk.  One  of  the  members  of  the 
club,  who  has  spent  much  time  in  France,  is 
kind  enough  to  tell  me  that,  after  Chicago,  she 
considers  our  "  little  Paris  "  incomparable !  I  am 
introduced  to  a  number  of  people  who  politely 
reproach  me  for  refusing  to  make  a  speech,  all 
strangers  present  at  the  meeting  having  been  in- 
vited to  take  the  floor.  When  I  reply  that  I  am 
wholly  unaccustomed  to  speaking  in  public,  they 
assume  the  pitying  air  that  the  Turkish  ladies 
wore  when  they  found  that  Lady  Mary  Wortley 
Montague  was  imprisoned  in  a  corset,  or  which 
we  might  ourselves  wear  on  looking  at  the 
maimed  foot  of  a  Chinese  woman.  I  tell  the 
president  that  the  American  clubs  bid  fair  to 
rival  the  old  salons  of  France,  so  great  is  the 
wit  displayed;  only,  their  doors  are  closed  upon 
men,  while  the  sole  purpose  of  our  salons  was  to 
gather  them  together  and  help  them  to  shine,  — 
upon  which  she  merrily  answers,  though  with  a 
strange  flash  in  her  eyes,  "Oh,  as  for  that,  we 
don't  care;  we  prefer  to  shine  on  our  own  ac- 
count ! "  And  the  husbands,  brothers,  and  sons 
bear  them  no  grudge.  They  think  it  delightful  to 
come  home  after  a  day  devoted  to  business,  and  be 
told  by  their  womankind  of  all  that  is  going  on  in  the 


46  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

world  of  leisure  ;  the  women  skim  the  reviews,  the 
books,  and  the  news  for  the  benefit  of  the  men. 

Among  the  women  present  who  attract  me  at 
first  sight  is  one  of  the  notabilities  of  Chicago, — 
Dr.  Sarah  Stevenson :  there  are  at  least  two  hun- 
dred women  doctors  in  the  city,  but  she  has  the 
largest  practice.  She  is  president  of  the  Woman's 
Club,  whose  programme  is  far  broader  than  that 
of  the  Fortnightly,  and  which  is  especially  devoted 
to  social  reforms.  Dr.  Stevenson  talks  eagerly  to 
me  of  what  she  considers  the  greatest  achievement 
of  the  women  of  Chicago,  — the  establishment  of 
a  protective  agency  for  women  and  children.  The 
object  of  this  association  is  to  guard  their  rights ; 
to  enforce  the  payment  of  wages  unjustly  withheld 
from  working-women  or  servants;  to '  prevent  ex- 
orbitant rates  of  interest  on  loans  and  the  violation 
of  contracts;  to  find  homes  for  foundlings,  take 
children  from  unworthy  parents,  and  procure  a 
divorce  for  wives  who  are  maltreated;  to  uphold 
a  mother's  right  to  her  children,  etc.  A  lawyer 
is  appointed  by  the  society.  All  that  she  tells  me 
awakens  my  liveliest  interest. 

I  go  on  the  day  fixed  to  the  pseudo-Roman 
structure  still  known  as  the  Art  Institute,  although 
another  edifice  of  classic  style  has  risen  within  a 
year  on  the  lake  shore,  on  Michigan   Boulevard, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  47 

to  hold  the  art  collections  of  the  city.  In  a  vast 
hall,  the  seats,  rising  one  above  the  other  and  form- 
ing an  amphitheatre,  are  already  covered  with 
women  whose  appearance  and  dress  point  to  a 
much  more  mixed  gathering  than  that  of  the  Fort- 
nightly ;  in  fact,  women  of  every  rank  in  life  belong 
to  this  Club.  It  has  five  hundred  members,  divided 
into  six  great  bodies,  —  the  committees  on  reform, 
philanthropy,  education,  house-keeping,  art  and 
literature,  science  and  philosophy.  As  I  enter,  a 
young  blind  girl,  standing  on  the  platform,  is  recit- 
ing a  eulogy  of  Longfellow.  It  is  "  Poets'  Day," 
and  the  meeting  is  devoted  to  the  author  of  Evan- 
geline. One  tribute  of  praise  follows  another,  with 
interludes  of  singing.  After  which  we  take  up  the 
question  of  the  unemployed.  A  magistrate,  who 
has  come  to  discuss  the  matter  with  the  Club,  says 
that  thousands  of  names  have  been  registered. 
The  University,  the  Theological  Faculty,  the  Catho- 
lic Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  the  Salvation 
Army  combine  to  remedy  this  distress.  The^adies 
are  asked  to  make  visits,  which  are  so  many  dis- 
creet investigations ;  each  of  them  is  to  call  upon 
one  of  the  unemployed,  saying  that  she  has  heard 
that  he  has  given  his  name  to  the  city  to  be 
employed  on  street  labor ;  if  they  agree  to  this, 
she  is  to  offer  to  recommend  him,  and,  if  the  case 


48  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

be   urgent,  to  inform  the  Relief-giving  Society  at 
once.     I  quote  an  excellent  piece  of  advice  offered 
by  the  judge :   "  Use  the  utmost  discretion  in  your 
visits  ;  do  not  try  to  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  the 
poor  any  more  than  you  would  do  with  those  of 
the  rich."     Several  ladies  eagerly  enter  upon  this 
work  with  the  city  government.     Mrs.  Stevenson 
does  not  occupy  her  chair;  it  often  happens  that 
her  professional  duties  prevent  her  from  assisting 
at  the  meetings  of  the  Club.     Her  place  is  on  this 
occasion  filled  by  a  vice-president,  who  introduces 
me    to    various   members.      They   show   me   the 
Club   calendar   for    the    year.      I    notice    among 
the     subjects     which    are     to     be     discussed     in 
different    departments,    from    October,    1893,    till 
June,   1894,  the   following   titles:    "Evolution   of 
the   Modern  Woman  ; "    "  Should    Emigration   be 
restricted  ?  "  "  The  Meaning  of  Work  ;  "  "  Realism 
in   Art   and    Literature  ; "    "  Industrial    Co-opera- 
tion ;  "  "  Science  and  the  Higher  Life ;  "  "  Reserve 
Force;  "  "  Co-education;"  "  Maternal  Rights," etc. 
Mrs.    C.    M.  Sherman,   well   known   through   her 
philosophical  works,  was  to  write  on  **  Dante  and 
the  Divine  Vision." 

I  question  a  lady  secretary  in  regard  to  the  fam- 
ous Protective  Agency  ;  it  was  established  in  1886. 
The  report  of  April,  1893,  shows  that  during  these 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  49 

seven  years  seven  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  complaints  of  every  sort  have  been  noted, 
and  that  $1,249,687  have  been  collected  in  small 
sums.  But  no  statistics  can  tell  the  public  all 
that  they  should  know  concerning  a  work  of  this 
nature.  Here  are  not  only  frauds  and  injustice 
redressed,  wages  paid,  cases  of  cruelty  or  violence 
punished,  guardianships  assumed,  divorces  ob- 
tained, references  investigated,  illegitimate  births 
made  regular,  work  found,  servants  placed,  stran- 
gers in  the  city  directed  and  helped;  the  poor 
creatures  saved  by  the  power  and  mercy  of  this 
wonderful  work  alone  can  tell  what  an  expenditure 
of  sympathy,  exertions,  and  advice  the  members 
have  lavished  in  behalf  of  their  beneficiaries.  This 
leads  us  to  ask  whether,  women  being  defended 
with  such  ardor,  men  are  not  sometimes  molested 
in  their  turn.  In  1889  the  agency  obtained  the 
benefit  of  extenuating  circumstances  for  a  woman 
accused  of  firing  in  the  court  room  upon  a  lawyer 
who  had  attacked  her  violently.  Of  course  the 
act  in  itself  was  not  approved,  but  the  agency 
proved  that  the  wretched  creature  was  goaded  to 
desperation,  almost  to  madness,  by  excessive  injus- 
tice and  persecution.  Is  not  the  defence  sometimes 
a  foregone  conclusion?  The  secretary,  to  whom 
I  expressed  my  fears,  laughed.     "  Oh,"  she  replied, 

4 


50  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

"  when  we  first  take  up  the  work,  we  very  often 
have  an  idea  that  the  woman  is  always  interesting, 
the  man  always  guilty  ;  but  we  soon  learn  to  dis- 
tinguish." Be  this  as  it  may,  judges,  police  com- 
missioners, and  magistrates  hold  the  Protective 
Agency  in  high  esteem,  and  consider  that  it  is  of 
great  help  to  them  owing  to  its  prompt  and  ener- 
getic action.  Only  those  who  know  all  the  evil 
wrought  by  drunkenness  and  brutality  in  a  society 
still  as  rough-hewn  as  that  of  Chicago,  can  under- 
stand the  urgent  need  for  this  action  unceasingly 
exercised  towards  women  in  the  name  of  their 
common  sisterhood,  and  towards  all  children  from 
maternal  feeling. 

But  the  Club  accomplishes  many  other  tasks. 
Too  often,  in  the  United  States,  public  offices  are 
given  for  reasons  which  are  advantageous  only  to 
politicians  of  the  lowest  order.  Frightful  abuses 
result.  In  certain  insane  asylums,  the  inmates, 
ill  fed,  ill  clad,  crowded  together,  slept  three  in 
a  bed.  The  Club  interfered  ;  and  women  doctors 
were  attached  to  these  establishments,  which  are 
now  all  that  could  be  wished  for.  On  all  public 
boards  having  charge  of  women  prisons,  hos- 
pitals, and  almshouses  women  demand  a  place. 
It  is  due  to  the  Club  that  matrons  are  now  attached 
to  police  stations ;  it  was  by  its  suggestion  that 


-    IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  5 1 

the  hospital  for  contagious  diseases  was  established. 
One  of  its  members,  Miss  Sweet,  started  a  set  of 
ambulances,  by  giving  the  first  one ;  Miss  Flower 
established  a  school  for  nurses  ;  Dr.  Stevenson 
procured  bath-houses  for  the  poor  on  the  lake 
and  in  some  of  the  poorest  districts.  The  Art 
Institute  has  an  annual  prize  given  by  the  Woman's 
Club.  A  new  university  was  opened  in  1892,  to 
six  hundred  students  of  both  sexes,  with  an  endow- 
ment amounting  to  seven  millions  of  dollars  ;  but 
the  splendid  structure  was  no  sooner  opened,  than 
it  was  discovered  that  there  were  no  dormitories 
for  women  students.  The  Woman's  Club  at  once 
collected  funds  for  the  construction  of  a  building 
which  contains  not  only  sleeping-rooms,  but  par- 
lors, a  large  hall,  a  dining-room,  library,  and 
gymnasium.  It  was  proposed  to  gather  together 
homeless  boys  in  an  industrial  school ;  three  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  were  offered  on  condition  that 
buildings  worth  forty  thousand  dollars  were  erected  ; 
the  Woman's  Club  raised  the  money,  and  Glenwood 
School  saw  the  light.  The  Club  sees  that  the  law 
of  compulsory  education  is  carried  out;  that  all 
children  from  six  to  fourteen  years  of  age  attend 
school  at  least  sixteen  weeks  in  the  year,  —  other- 
wise, many  children  would*  stay  away  for  want  of 
shoes  or  clothes. 


52  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Lastly,  the  Club  undertook  a  task  more  difficult 
than  all  these.  It  has  formed  a  Municipal  Reform 
League  to  demand  that  Chicago  streets  should  be 
properly  cleaned.  If  they  succeed  even  in  this, 
we  may  say  that  they  have  accomplished  a  miracle. 
A  great  deal  has  already  been  done;  there  is 
much  less  of  the  smoke  which  oppressed  the  city, 
a  part  of  which  is  now  consumed.  In  short,  behind 
every  reform  we  find  the  dauntless  Woman's  Club  ; 
and  if  they  strive  to  reform  the  streets,  they  also 
wish  to  improve  the  general  manners.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Woman's  Club,  some  member  announced 
that  the  ladies  were  "  required "  to  wait  for  tea ; 
a  tall  woman,  with  an  air  of  authority,  rose  at  the 
back  of  the  hall,  and  sternly  reproved  her  fellow- 
member,  correcting  her  improper  expression,  as 
she  called  it,  and  demanding  that  she  should  sub- 
stitute "  requested  "  for  "  required." 

Passengers  in  street  cars  are  requested,  in  the 
name  of  the  ladies,  not  to  spit,  and  the  rudest  ask 
nothing  better  than  to  gratify  their  wishes.  Let 
me  give  you  two  street  incidents  from  Chicago. 
I  was  on  the  platform  of  a  car,  hesitating  to  plunge 
into  the  confusion  of  the  crowded  street,  too  timid 
to  descend.  Near  me  was  an  ill-dressed  man, 
who  looked  like  a  vagabond,  who  at  first  seemed 
inclined   to   laugh  ;    suddenly  he   sprang  to    the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  53 

ground,  helped  me  to  the  sidewalk,  and  when  I 
thanked  him,  grunted  an  embarrassed  "all  right," 
and  pleasantly  shook  me  by  the  hand  which  he 
still  held.  An  old  German  laborer  (there  are  four 
hundred  thousand  Germans  in  Chicago)  helped 
me  to  find  my  way  when  I  was  lost.  As  we  walked 
along  he  did  the  honors  of  the  city,  and  showed 
me  among  other  things,  a  splendid  display  in  a 
florist's  window.  "  These  are  chrysanthemums,"  he 
said  ;  "  you  don't  have  those  in  France ;  but  [in 
an  encouraging  tone,  which  implied  *  you  may 
yet,']  you  have  the  little  marguerite."  This  some- 
what contemptuous  kindness  is,  I  imagine,  the 
exact  expression  of  the  feelings  of  young  Chicago 
towards  old  France. 

An  excellent  book,  by  Julian  Ralph,  "Our 
Great  West,"  enumerates,  to  the  glory  of  woman, 
all  the  facts  relating  to  what  he  calls  the  "gentle 
side,"  the  sweet,  delicate,  lofty  side  of  Chicago. 
This  excellent  study  of  modern  capitals  in  the 
United  States,  their  present  conditions,  and  their 
future  possibilities,  maybe  compared  with  another 
book  which  has  recently  aroused  the  most  violent 
indignation,  — the  "Cliff  Dwellers."  In  this 
study  of  manners,  on  the  contrary,  the  bad  sides, 
the  terrible  sides  of  Chicago  are  painted  in  very 
gloomy  colors,  —  with  the  results  of  the  fierce 


54  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

speculation,  the  inhuman  battle  for  success,  the 
merciless  struggle  which  kills  all  feeling  (even 
family  feeling),  hardens  the  soul,  and  leads  those 
who  yield  to  it  to  crime  itself.  The  author  of 
the  "Cliff  Dwellers,"  Mr.  Henry  Fuller,  has 
made  the  more  enemies  by  this  bold  satire, 
from  the  fact  that  he  has  ventured  to  touch 
the  sacred  personality  of  woman.  His  heroine, 
Cecilia  Ingles,  —  the  mundane  deity,  invisible 
until  the  last  page,  but  ever  present  through 
the  occult  influence  which  she  exerts,  —  uncon- 
sciously drives  hundreds  of  individuals  to  their 
ruin.  She  only  wants  to  produce  the  greatest 
possible  effect;  she  does  not  know  what  her 
luxury  costs.  —  how  many  unhappy  creatures  are 
cheated,  robbed,  tortured,  reduced  to  misery, 
shame,  and  despair  for  her  sake.  Very  prob- 
ably this  beautiful,  heartless  doll,  placed  on  a 
pedestal  of  dollars,  exists  in  Chicago, — at  least, 
many  such  instances  may  have  been  born  there, 

—  but  I  imagine  she  did  not  stay  there.  We 
should  expect  rather  to  find  her  in  Europe, 
where  she  is  in  pursuit  of  a  title,  and  proposes, 
as  her  last  caprice,  to  force  her  way,  by  dint  of 
money,  either  into  the  Faubourg  St.  Germain,  or 

—  preferably,  for  she  prizes  difficulties  and  scorns 
republics  —  into    the    most    inaccessible    ranks 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  55 

of  the  English  aristocracy.     Let  us  add  that  in 

either  direction  she  succeeds  admirably,  which 
insures  her  a  long  train  of  imitators ;  and  in  her 
new  country  no  one  laughs  more  loudly  than  she 
at  Chicago,  the  Woman's  Club,  and  all  the 
rest. 

Private   Houses   in   Chicago.  —  Streets   and 
Homes.  —  The  Temple. 

To  laugh  at  Chicago  is  a  bad  habit  common  to 
all  civilized  America.  The  shrill,  nasal  voice  of 
its  citizens;  their  trivial  manners;  the  big  feet 
of  its  women ;  the  enormity  of  bad  taste  shown  in 
its  tall  buildings,  its  "sky  scrapers;"  the  almost 
fabulous  growth  of  that  huge  mushroom,  or  rather 
of  that  wild  onion  (if  we  are  to  believe  in  the 
Indian  etymology  of  Checagiia),  —  all  come  in 
for  their  share  of  criticism.  But  say  what  we  will, 
onion  or  cryptogam,  it  is  a  marvellous  growth. 
It  is  the  best  evidence  of  the  power  and  the 
industry  of  a  great  nation.  Is  not  the  resurrec- 
tion of  that  city,  a  miracle  indeed,  —  that  city 
which,  scarcely  sixty  years  old,  perished  almost 
wholly  in  the  fire  of  1870,  but  sprang  up  from  its 
ashes  a  thousand  times  richer  and  more  active, 
its   prosperity   increasing  even   while  we  gaze? 


56  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Would-be  jokers  still  quote  the  dialogue  between 
a  native  of  St  Louis  and  a  citizen  of  Chicago 
who  were  quarrelling  over  the  merits  of  their 
respective  cities:  — 

"  When  were  you  in  Chicago  ?  " 

"Last  week." 

"  Oh,  well !  Then  you  know  nothing  about  it. 
The  city  has  been  entirely  changed  since  then." 

But  the  witticism  is  stale;  it  is  no  longer  pos- 
sible to  compare  Chicago  with  St.  Louis,  which 
has  been  left  far  behind ;  to  the  passing  stranger 
one  represents  a  great  provincial  town,  the  other 
a  capital. 

With  no  wish  to  offend  certain  Eastern  exquis- 
ites who  went  most  reluctantly  to  the  World's 
Fair,  and  who,  once  there,  looked  at  nothing 
save  the  "white  city,"  refusing  to  set  foot  in  the 
"black  city,"  I  must  confess  that  I  saw  nofthing 
at  the  Chicago  exhibition  so  curious  as  Chicago 
itself.  I  felt  the  fascination  of  the  monster  as 
soon  as  it  appeared  to  me  from  the  railroad, 
rising  from  the  midst  of  the  vast  plain,  where, 
preceded  by  the  city  of  workmen,  —  Pullman,  an 
annex  worthy  of  it,  —  it  lies  stretched  along  the 
shore  of  its  lake,  beneath  a  canopy  of  smoke. 
Its  boisterous  energy  impressed  me  from  the  very 
first  day,  and  its  architecture  amazed  me.     Not 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  57 

that  I  have  any  great  admiration  for  the  build- 
ings, all  height  and  no  width,  which  rival  the 
Eiffel  tower;  but  there  are  excellent  specimens 
of  the  architecture  to  which  Richardson  gave  his 
name,  —  a  composite  and  yet  original  architec- 
ture, a  mixture  of  Roman,  Byzantine,  and  a  little 
Gothic  very  happily  applied  to  modern  wants,  to 
great  stores  and  industrial  establishments.  Mar- 
shall Field's  vast  warehouse,  for  instance,  is  a 
masterpiece  of  this  kind.  In  its  place  and  of 
its  kind  it  does  as  much  honor  to  Richardson  as 
the  famous  Trinity  Church  at  Boston,  expressing 
equally  well  the  purpose  to  which  it  is  devoted; 
what  has  been  called  the  severity  of  its  aspect 
does  not  exclude  beauty,  a  solid,  massive,  im- 
perishable beauty,  as  the  cyclopean  appearance 
of  its  rough-hewn,  rock-faced  walls  seems  to 
proclaim. 

The  new  American  architecture,  which  has 
ceased  to  have  anything  in  common  with  colonial 
architecture  with  its  formal  lines,  reminding  us 
of  Louis  XVI.  and  the  Empire, — that  archi- 
tecture which  strikes  us  as  the  most  marked 
manifestation  of  the  progress  of  the  fine  arts 
in  America,  —  has  also  been  very  successfully 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  domestic  life. 
In   this   form   it    flourishes   particularly   in    the 


58  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

northern  part  of  the  city.  The  tree-planted 
streets  leading  to  the  lake  are  lined  with  dwell- 
ings which,  when  they  are  not  pretentious  and 
odd,  are  charming.  There  is  a  medley  of  all 
styles,  which  yet  resembles  nothing  known,  — 
a  compromise  between  the  castle  and  the  cottage, 
an  ingenious  confusion  where  discords  sometimes 
result  in  harmony.  As  we  look  at  those  pictur- 
esquely irregular  porches,  those  turreted  gables, 
those  piazzas  filled  with  flowers,  we  feel  that  if 
the  inmate  is  like  his  shell,  the  people  of  the 
West  have  been  slandered :  they  have  at  least 
imagination.  We  cross  the  threshold :  good 
pictures  cover  the  walls,  even  in  houses  which 
do  not  contain  important  collections;  everywhere 
we  see  antique  tapestries  and  valuable  furniture. 
Let  us  draw  no  hasty  conclusions  from  this.  No 
doubt  most  of  the  fortunate  owners  of  these 
things  still  depend  on  the  taste  of  their  archi- 
tect; but  still  their  education  is  assuredly  pro- 
gressing, —  they  are  learning  to  know  what  is 
beautiful  by  possessing  it.  Their  wives,  too, 
do  much  to  enlighten  them.  Many  rich  men 
have  married  away  from  Chicago;  as  the  Romans 
carried  off  the  Sabines.  The  mistress  of  a  superb 
mansion  on  Prairie  Avenue  said,  as  she  invited 
me  to  a  luncheon  and  named  over  the  ladies  who 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  59 

were  to  be  present,  —  "  Not  one  of  them  is  from 
Chicago,  although  they  all  belong  to  its  top 
crust."  Shall  I  venture  to  say  that  three  or 
four  of  the  most  agreeable  of  those  whom  I  met 
elsewhere  were  merely  natives?  Yes,  indeed,  we 
find  all  sorts  and  kinds  in  Chicago,  —  noisy  up- 
starts of  vulgar  aspect,  and  women  as  distinguished 
in  face,  dress,  and  mind  as  if  they  had  been  born 
in  the  East;  aesthetic  interiors  where  art  and 
literature  are  discussed,  and  factories  like  for- 
tresses elbowing  other  granite  mountains,  which 
every  day,  about  six  o'clock,  vomit  forth  thou- 
sands of  business  men  into  the  dirtiest  streets  in 
the  world;  palaces  of  millionnaires,  and  piles  of 
offices  where  you  drop  from  the  fourteenth  or 
even  the  twentieth  floor,  stunned  by  the  dizzy 
speed  of  the  elevator;  superb  parks  and  vast 
pieces  of  waste  land;  caravansaries  with  onyx 
walls  and  mosaic  pavements  like  the  Auditorium 
(which  also  contains  a  magnificent  theatre),  and 
oyster  palaces,  public  houses,  breweries,  wine- 
rooms  and  beer  saloons,  suited  to  every  taste, 
even  the  basest.  There  are  butcheries  of  cattle 
which  put  all  slaughter-houses  to  shame;  stock- 
yards where  lovers  of  carnage  may  see  the  blood 
of  pigs  flow  in  torrents;  and  there  are  great 
butchers  who  are  also  the  greatest  of  all  phil- 


60  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

anthropists.  There  is  Armour  Institute,  that 
model  school  of  arts  and  trades  to  which  its 
founder  gave  $1,400,000,  not  to  mention  the  mis- 
sion of  the  same  name  where  there  are  a  library, 
a  kindergarten,  a  dispensary,  and  where  every 
Sunday  eighteen  hundred  young  men  and  women, 
many  of  whom  would  otherwise  be  homeless, 
meet  to  learn  the  meaning  of  spiritual  life,  in- 
tellectual life,  family  life,  and  honest  amuse- 
ment. Mr.  Armour  spends  the  afternoon  with 
his  children,  those  whom  he  pleasantly  calls  "his 
partners."  And  here  too,  behind  this  colossal 
humanitarian  scheme,  as  behind  the  industrial 
schemes  which  feed  it,  there  is,  it  seems,  fem- 
inine collaboration. 

When  I  was  shown  a  splendid  structure  thirteen 
stories  high,  only  eight  less  than  the  Masonic 
Temple,  with  the  words,  "That  is  the  Woman's 
Temple,"  I  was  not  at  all  surprised;  it  seemed 
quite  natural  that  this  public  symbol  of  venera- 
tion and  gratitude  should  be  reared  in  the  prin- 
cipal street  of  the  business  quarter,  amid  the 
confusion  of  the  Exchange,  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, Insurance  Companies,  etc.  I  was  then 
told  that  the  Temple,  so  called  for  short,  is  that 
of  temperance,  that  it  was  erected  by  women. 
Its  construction  cost  more  than  a  million  dollars, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  6l 

and  it  was  a  woman  who  provided  the  funds;  a 
woman  who  possesses  that  talent  which  is  most 
rare  among  her  sex,  —  the  financial  talent.  Mrs. 
M.  B.  Carse  spent  ten  years  in  the  realization  of 
her  plan,  and  succeeded  in  carrying  it  out  with 
the  aid  of  another  woman  famous  for  the  aid 
which  she  has  lent  for  twenty  years  past  to  the 
Temperance  Union,  —  Miss  Willard.  Frances 
Willard  has  devoted  her  life  to  preaching  the 
system  of  self-government ;  she  is  at  the  head  of 
the  White  Cross  movement,  which,  in  many  States, 
has  obtained  the  passage  of  special  laws  for  the 
protection  of  woman.  The  avowed  antagonist  of 
America's  mortal  foe,  drunkenness,  she  attacks  it 
with  every  weapon  upon  which  she  can  lay  her 
hand.  The  Temperance  Society  wraps  all  cities, 
big  and  little,  in  its  busy  net-work;  she  has 
chosen  her  headquarters  in  the  city  where  this  evil 
flourishes  most  fearfully,  and  it  seems  that  phil- 
anthropy is,  as  it  should  ever  be,  according  to 
American  ideas,  at  the  same  time  a  good  thing 
from  a  business  point  of  view,  since  the  annual 
income  from  the  Temple  buildings  is  supposed 
to  amount  to  $50,000. 

Members  of  the  Temperance  Society  are  bound 
by  an  oath  which  condemns  them  to  the  most 
insipid  drinks.     In  their  homes  you  are  offered 


62  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN- 

nothing  but  ice-water,  ginger  ale,  or  at  most  unfer- 
mented  grape-juice,  which  tastes  like  fruit-syrup. 
I  remember  the  contemptuous  glances  cast  at  me 
in  hotels  or  restaurants  by  certain  ladies  who  saw 
me  drinking  wine.  I  was  evidently  a  subject 
for  scandal,  —  a  thing  to  be  avoided  at  any  cost 
in  America.  The  following  anecdote  was  told 
me  by  a  friend,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  offer 
me  claret  and  even  champagne  at  luncheon :  An 
Italian  lady,  visiting  Chicago,  was  invited  to  a 
house  where  temperance  ran  riot.  "What  will 
you  take  to  drink?"  asked  the  hostess,  "tea, 
coffee,  or  cocoa  .'^"  The  stranger  innocently 
answered  that  she  usually  drank  wine.  "Very 
good,  only  you  must  let  us  serve  it  to  you  in  a 
teapot,  so  that  no  one  may  be  shocked." 

The  Foreign  Population  of  Chicago.  — 
Hull  House. 

In  speaking  of  the  Temperance  Temple,  I  am 
sorry  not  to  allude  to  other  great  buildings  of 
Chicago;  but  the  list  would  be  too  long,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  fact  that  it  lies  outside  my 
subject.  Those  giants,  whose  heights  have  lately 
been  limited  by  law  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  are  still  multiplied,  and  it  is  most  curious 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  63 

to  watch  their  rapid  construction.  The  bare  steel 
frame  is  first  erected,  and  then  clothed  with 
brick  or  stone,  as  with  a  more  or  less  beautiful 
garment.  The  masons  often  begin  the  casing  at 
the  upper  stories,  which  may  already  be  occu- 
pied, while  the  foundations  of  the  structure  seem 
scarcely  yet  in  position.  An  elevator  takes  you 
to  the  eighth  floor  in  a  store  where  everything 
is  sold,  —  from  clothes  to  food,  from  silverware 
to  kitchen  utensils, — while  the  ground  floor  is 
still  unfinished  and  open  to  the  weather.  The 
sidewalk  made  of  glass  tiles  affords  the  basement 
ample  light;  as  for  the  cellar,  the  soft  clay  in 
which  the  foundation  is  dug  does  not  permit  of 
such  a  thing.  It  would  take  a  Turner  and  a 
Raphael  combined  to  reproduce  the  effect  of 
the  crowded  streets  of  Chicago,  of  those  "sky 
scrapers,"  illuminated  at  night  by  an  intermittent 
electric  light.  Blazing  bunches  of  every  color 
are  fastened  here  and  there  by  way  of  advertise- 
ment and  placard;  other  advertisements  are  hung 
from  house  to  house  across  the  broad  street, 
which  is  filled  with  a  dull  roar  like  the  voice 
of  the  sea,  the  constant  strokes  of  a  gong  an- 
nouncing the  uninterrupted  passage  of  electric 
or  cable  cars.  And  through  this  steady  uproar, 
with  no  loud  outcry,  without  confusion  or  dis- 


64       •  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

order,  flows  a  human  flood  wherein  you  recognize 
specimens  from  the  whole  world  over.  Out  of 
the  one  million  one  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants of  Chicago,  there  are  not  actually  more  than 
three  hundred  thousand  native  Americans.  Ger- 
mans, Irish,  Swedes,  and  Poles  elbow  and  push, 
all  apparently  in  the  utmost  haste,  no  one  mov- 
ing out  of  a  straight  course  lest  he  overthrow 
his  neighbor.  Here  and  there  a  tiny  fruit-stand 
crowded  into  the  corner  of  a  well-smoked  wall 
reminds  you  of  Italy,  with  its  garlands  of  grapes 
and  bananas,  its  pyramids  of  lemons,  oranges, 
and  red  apples,  and  its  Californian  fruit  more 
tempting  to  the  eye  than  to  the  taste.  Two  black 
eyes  gleam  in  this  poor  but  cheerful  frame,  — 
the  fiery  eyes  of  a  Sicilian,  who  lounges  behind 
the  wares  which  he  knows  so  well  how  to  show 
to  the  best  advantage;  for  lazy  and  undisciplined 
as  he  may  seem,  he  has  a  sense  of  the  pictur- 
esque. 

Here  is  a  great  display  of  the  negro  race,  which 
swarms,  often  worse  than  ragged,  but  always 
smiling;  also  fair,  placid  Scandinavian  faces; 
Bohemians,  in  such  numbers  that  Chicago  is  the 
third  Bohemian  city;  Israelitish  types,  with 
swarthy  skin  and  hooked  noses,  —  like  the  Jew, 
who,  standing  at  the  entrance  to  the  panorama 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  65 

of  Jerusalem,  does  the  honors  of   Dor6's  picture 
and  sells  you  water  from  the  Jordan. 

I  had  an  opportunity  to  study  this  motley  crowd 
of  every  type  and  every  tint  at  the  funeral  rites 
of  Mayor  Harrison,  murdered  on  the  eve  of  his 
marriage,  by  one  of  those  lunatics,  those  cranks, 
who  are  hung  without  hesitation  in  America 
precisely  as  if  they  were  sane,  so  soon  as  they 
take  it  into  their  heads  to  disturb  law  and  order. 
Harrison  was  a  politician  of  much  popularity 
among  the  lovers  of  that  sort  of  liberty  which 
consists  in  keeping  bars,  theatres,  and  gambling 
houses  open  on  Sunday.  A  sympathetic  mob 
accordingly  flocked  to  his  obsequies.  I  never 
saw  so  many  evil  faces.  The  procession  was  very 
late  in  appearing  on  the  road  which  leads  from 
the  church  to  the  cemetery.  The  Chicago  police- 
men —  colossal  men,  who  seem  made  expressly  to 
hold  a  population  of  criminals  in  awe  —  drove 
the  curious  spectators  roughly  back  on  either  side 
of  the  street,  without  arousing  complaint.  Ab- 
solute silence  reigned;  no  sign  of  impatience 
during  the  interminable  wait,  no  remark  when 
the  funeral  procession  at  last  appeared,  —  a  pro- 
cession which  continued  two  hours  to  the  sound 
of  military  music.  Militia,  clubs,  freemasons 
with  their  regalia,   official  characters   delegated 

5 


66  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

from  the  various  districts  of  the  city,  followed 
the  hearse,  which  was  in  strangely  bad  taste,  — 
all  on  horseback  or  in  carriages,  hat  on  head  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  galloping  towards  the  dis- 
tant cemetery.  No  time  is  lost  in  burying  the 
dead  in  a  land  which  is  pre-eminently  the  land  of 
the  living.  It  was  the  first  of  November,  —  as  it 
were  a  final  scene  in  the  World's  Fair,  the  clos- 
ing scene.  In  every  buttonhole  gleamed  the  por- 
trait of  Harrison,  painted  in  silver  on  a  black 
rosette;  but  I  saw  no  other  sign  of  emotion.  The 
interesting  side  of  the  spectacle  was  the  crowd, 
in  which  Russian  Jews  furnished  a  pitiful  con- 
tingent. Emigration,  involuntary  emigration,  has 
cast  this  flood  upon  the  shores  of  the  New  World, 
most  unfortunately,  —  a  flood  of  people  ignorant 
of  the  language,  ignorant  of  the  law,  and  forming 
with  the  worst  of  the  Italians  a  justifiable  source 
of  alarm  to  the  country  which  has  received  them. 
Their  misery  seems  to  be  without  a  remedy,  be- 
cause it  is  the  result  not  only  of  every  misfor- 
tune, but  of  every  vice,  of  every  form  of  revolt, 
and  of  utter  incapacity.  Exiles  in  a  new  world, 
where  every  man  works  for  himself  with  unheard- 
of  vigor,  persistence,  and  perseverance,  there 
could  scarcely  be  any  alternative  for  them  than  to 
fall  a  prey  to  the  gallows  or  to  die  of  hunger,  were 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  6/ 

it  not  for  the  tireless  compassion  of  women  which 
assures  to  them  bread  and  creates  work  for  them. 

Hull  House  is  among  other  things  the  refuge 
of  poor  foreigners.  Hull  House  was  founded  by 
Miss  Jane  Addams.  We  are  told  that  she  took 
her  inspiration  from  one  of  the  besl:  philanthropic 
institutions  in  England,  —  Toynbee  Hall.  We 
are  also  told  that  there  are  hundreds  of  houses 
much  like  hers  in  the  United  States,  and  indeed 
there  is  scarcely  a  city  where  I  did  not  find  well- 
organized  settlements.  But  that  of  Miss  Addams 
still  stands  alone,  owing  to  the  character  lent  it 
by  the  personality  of  its  head,  and  to  the  match- 
less influence  which  she  exerts. 

The  theory  that  the  rich  need  the  poor  as 
much  as  the  poor  need  the  rich  lay  at  the  root 
of  all  the  plans  formed  by  Miss  Addams;  she  de- 
voted her  fortune,  her  time,  and  her  intellect  to 
the  service  of  this  idea.  To  begin  with,  she 
bought  a  dilapidated  estate  in  a  wretched  quarter 
of  the  town.  It  had  been  used  for  auctions,  and 
was  known  as  Hull  House  from  the  name  of  its 
builder.  She  repaired  it,  improved  it;  gave  it  a 
clean,  bright,  homelike  aspect;  then  established 
herself  there  with  her  friend  and  partner,  Miss 
Starr.  Many  others  came  by  degrees  to  play  a 
greater  or  less  part  in  the  work. 


68  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

The  simplest  way  to  let  my  reader  know  what 
goes  on  at  Hull  House  is  to  ask  him  to  go  there 
with  me. 

With  the  person  who  was  to  introduce  me,  I 
jolted  one  evening  for  a  long  distance  in  a  car- 
riage over  an  atrocious  pavement,  through  muddy 
streets,  lined  with  miserable  hovels  and  those 
saloons  which  are  both  gambling  hells  and  bars. 
At  last  we  stop  before  a  large  building,  with 
brightly  lighted  windows.  At  the  door  I  am 
greeted  by  a  lively,  smiling  young  woman.  Miss 
Ellen  Starr.  To  her  I  owe  my  first  view  of  the 
establishment,  which  she  shows  me  from  cellar 
to  garret.  The  hour  is  a  favorable  one,  for  all 
the  members  of  "Jane's  Club"  have  come  in. 
This  club  of  working-girls,  placed  as  it  were 
under  the  tutelary  care  of  Miss  Addams,  forms  an 
independent  annex  of  Hull  House,  of  which  it 
is  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  interesting 
features.  The  young  girls  belonging  to  it  all 
earn  their  living  as  dressmakers,  milliners,  seam- 
stresses, shop-girls,  stenographers,  printers,  type- 
writers, etc.  Formerly  dispersed  among  various 
boarding-houses  and  more  or  less  respectable 
lodging-houses,  they  have  here  the  shelter  of  a 
home  where  their  habits  are  refined  by  daily  asso- 
ciations.    A   very    clever   German    woman    has 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  69 

charge  of  the  club's  money  matters,  it  being  now 
self-supporting.  In  the  parlor  I  find  two  young 
girls  taking  a  music  lesson,  their  day's  work 
being  over;  another,  just  returned  from  her  shop, 
is  finishing  a  late  supper  in  the  pleasant  dining- 
room,  lighted  like  all  the  rest  of  the  house  by 
gas,  and  warmed  by  a  furnace,  —  a  customary 
luxury  in  America,  and  one  which  is  generally 
carried  too  far,  for  almost  everywhere  the  heat 
is  stifling.  Many  of  the  girls  have  gone  to  their 
rooms  on  the  second  and  third  floor.  Miss 
Starr  asks  leave  to  show  their  dominions  to  a 
foreign  lady  passing  through  Chicago,  and  they 
consent  with  the  good  grace  of  those  who  know 
that  they  have  nothing  to  lose  by  being  viewed 
at  close  quarters.  Indeed,  the  rooms  are  almost 
elegant,  —  rooms  with  two,  three,  and  four  beds 
mostly,  but  divided  by  screens  and  curtains,  and 
having  at  the  first  glance  a  look  of  order  and 
perfect  neatness.  Some  girls  are  resting,  read- 
ing, in  rocking-chairs;  others  are  beginning  to 
undress,  or  are  combing  their  hair  before  the 
glass.  Taking  them  thus  by  surprise,  I  have  an 
immediate  proof  of  Miss  Starr's  words:  "They 
become  more  refined  every  day,"  —  refined  by 
daily  contact  with  all  that  is  best  in  woman.  I 
apologize  for  my  intrusion,  and  they  reply  with 


70  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

a  courtesy  which  would  amaze  me  had  I  not  had 
time  to  make  acquaintance  in  America  with 
others  of  the  same  rank  under  different  circum- 
stances. To  be  sure,  they  have  profited  by  all 
the  advantages  offered  by  Hull  House,  —  books, 
lectures,  etc.  Miss  Starr  is  giving  them  a  special 
course  on  art,  and  tells  me  that  her  pupils  often 
bring  her  their  scanty  savings  to  be  used  in  buy- 
ing photographs,  which  are  sent  them  from  Italy, 
—  photographs  from  the  works  of  the  old  mas- 
ters, which  I  actually  saw  on  the  walls  of  the 
house.  The  preference  of  a  large  majority  is  for 
Botticelli.  Botticelli  popular  in  the  suburbs  of 
Chicago,  — is  not  that  strange?  It  is,  I  suppose, 
largely  duetto  the  influence  of  Miss  Starr's  teach- 
ings, and  also  to  the  influence  of  the  physical 
type  of  Miss  Addams,  who  looks  singularly  like  a 
Botticelli  with  her  saintly  face,  pale,  anxious, 
with  slightly  hollow  cheeks,  pensive  brow,  great 
deep  eyes  whose  gaze  seems,  but  half  conscious 
of  all  save  pain  and  misery.  "  I  do  not  mean," 
explains  Miss  Starr,  "that  all  our  girls  have  such 
delicate  tastes.  There  are  some  who  love  dress 
and  frivolity;  they  too  are  free  to  follow  their 
bent.  To  lead  them  higher  we  count  upon  the 
example  of  others,  and  upon  the  atmosphere  of  the 
house,  where  the  life  is  in  no  way  austere.     Every 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  /I 

week  they  give  a  little  party:  music,  refresh- 
ments —  nothing  is  wanting.  They  have  their 
share  of  honest  superfluity."  Miss  Starr's  kind 
face  shines  at  the  thought. 

We  return  to  the  main  building.  A  wide  pas- 
sage-way divides  it  into  two  parts;  on  either 
hand  there  are  large  rooms,  which  I  enter  to  see 
what  goes  on  every  night.  In  the  first  study  room 
a  Canadian  lady  is  teaching  French  to  a  dozen 
scholars ;  in  the  second  a  reading  is  going  on ;  in 
another  some  young  people  are  drawing,  girls  and 
men  working  together. 

Sons  of  the  rich  men  of  Chicago  take  charge 
of  the  Boys'  Club,  entering  into  friendly  relations 
with  these  once  outcast  lads,  who  now  learn  all 
sorts  of  things  as  if  for  amusement,  — modelling, 
wood-carving,  geography,  American  history,  even 
a  little  Latin,  to  say  nothing  of  all  sorts  of  games 
suited  to  their  age.  They  have  a  splendid  gym- 
nasium lighted  up  as  if  it  were  day,  where  I  saw 
them  exercising;  after  which  some  took  a  shower 
bath.  The  baths  established  at  Hull  House  have 
contributed  as  much  as  an)rthing  else  towards  the 
moral  and  physical  health  of  the  region.  But 
the  great  benefit  is  the  kitchen.  At  meal  time 
a  good  and  substantial  bill  of  fare  awaits  all  who 
wish   to   be    fed  at   the   lowest   possible   price. 


^2  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Some  carry  home  a  dish,  and  lessons  may  be 
learned  which  are  as  valuable  as  many  others; 
for  there  is  a  school  specially  managed  by  young 
ladies  in  that  bright,  attractive  kitchen  furnished 
with  all  the  newest  and  most  economical  arrange- 
ments. Ladies  also  are  faithful  attendants  at  the 
sewing-classes,  where  little  girls  hear  stories 
while  they  work,  which  keep  their  imagination 
active.  Some  also  help  in  the  kindergarten,  which 
meets  every  morning  in  the  big  room  at  other 
times  known  as  the  play-room  of  the  neighbor- 
hood children.  No  one  is  forgotten,  great  or 
small,  old  or  young.  Miss  Addams  desires  the 
poor  foreigners  who  live  in  the  neighborhood  to 
retain  all  that  is  good  of  their  respective  lands; 
therefore,  each  nationality  has  its  club.  One  of 
the  most  successful  is  the  Friday  Evening  Ger- 
man Club,  where  old  popular  songs  are  sung, 
and  Schiller  is  read,  while  knitting-needles  move 
apace. 

We  pass  rapidly  through  reading-rooms  filled 
with  laborers  looking  over  the  newspapers  and 
magazines  of  all  countries.  Upstairs,  we  find  a 
billiard  table  and  various  amusements.  "Very 
often,"  says  Miss  Starr,  "it  is  a  desire  for  socia- 
bility which  leads  the  weakest  to  frequent  drink- 
ing and  gambling  dens.     We  do  not  wish   our 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  73 

men  to  have  that  excuse.  To  be  sure,  many  are 
not  content  with  what  we  offer;  but  few  as  we 
may  bring  in,  they  are  so  many  saved.  Besides, 
they  can  come  every  night  to  one  of  the  clubs 
which  I  have  showed  you,  —  the  German  club, 
the  gymnastic  club,  the  drawing  club,  or  the 
political  economy  club.  We  are  very  proud  of 
our  picture  gallery,  where  we  have  already  had 
five  exhibitions.  Picture  owners  are  very  gener- 
ous in  lending  us  their  treasures." 

The  idea  of  alms,  as  we  see,  is  wholly  absent 
from  the  system  of  Miss  Addams.  She  eases  the 
life  of  the  poor;  that  is  all.  She  puts  into  it  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  things  whose  posses- 
sion they  envy  the  rich;  or,  rather,  she  tries  to 
efface  distinctions  by  establishing  neighborly  re- 
lations between  rich  and  poor,  —  "  men,  women, 
and  children,"  as  she  says,  "joining  in  one 
family,  as  God  meant  them  to  be."  She  asks  no 
one  concerning  his  creed.  The  general  belief  is 
Christian  humanitarianism,  the  spirit  of  Christ 
shown  in  works  of  love. 

Help  comes  to  her  from  every  hand.  Let  me 
tell  you  the  story  of  the  great  play-ground,  where 
children  have  ample  room  to  play  the  athletic 
games  which  seem  to  be  a  part  of  American  insti- 
tutions.    A  horrible  tenement  house   once  stood 


74  IE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

there, — a  filthy  hive,  where  poor  laborers  lived, 
huddled  together,  under  the  worst  possible  con- 
ditions for  health,  and  in  the  most  objectionable 
promiscuity.  The  owner  of  this  building,  which 
Miss  Addams  thought  the  worst  in  her  whole  neigh- 
borhood, lived  abroad,  and  paid  little  heed  to  the 
way  in  which  his  property  was  managed.  But 
Miss  Addams  having  complained  of  the  condition 
of  things,  he  at  once  atoned  for  his  unconscious 
errors,  ordered  the  buildings  torn  down,  and  offered 
Hull  House  the  land.  The  boys  of  the  neighbor- 
hood now  have  a  splendid  play-ground,  which  the 
city,  not  wishing  to  be  under  too  great  a  burden  of 
obligation,  has  put  under  the  charge  of  a  special 
policeman. 

When,  at  a  late  hour,  we  leave  that  house  of 
refuge  and  help  which  shines  through  the  night 
like  a  beacon  of  safety,  the  door  of  our  carriage 
is  opened  by  a  passing  lad.  "  A.  few  years  ago 
that  boy  and  his  mates  would  have  thrown  stones 
at  us,"  says  the  friend  accompanying  me. 

My  most  interesting  visit  to  Hull  House  was  on 
an  evening  when  the  Workingmen's  Club  met,  — 
a  club  where  social  science  gladly  uses  the  lan- 
guage of  anarchy.  I  was  invited  to  dinner.  Miss 
Addams,  at  the  head  of  the  long  table,  carves  and 
talks,  as  any  hostess  might  do.     On  the  walls  of 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  75 

the  large  room,  whose  furniture  shines  with  neat- 
ness, hang  big  carbon  photographs,  reproductions 
of  Millet's  most  famous  pictures  and  some  master- 
pieces of  Italian  art.  The  whitest  of  table-cloths, 
simple  but  abundant  fare;  nothing  but  water  to 
drink,  of  course,  —  temperance  reigns  supreme. 
My  right-hand  neighbor,  who  has  studied  law  in 
Paris,  talks  of  his  student  life;  like  most  of  the 
guests,  he  is  one  of  the  helpers  of  Miss  Addams, 
temporary  or  permanent  inmates  of  Hull  House. 
Among  them,  I  recognize  with  some  surprise  two 
young  lawyers  with  whom  I  dined  the  w^ek  before 
in  very  different  company.  Bachelors  are  allowed 
to  invite  and  receive  ladies  on  certain  fixed  days, 
at  their  respective  clubs.  I  was  therefore  invited  to 
a  very  literary  and  very  agreeable  dinner,  washed 
down  by  excellent  champagne,  at  one  of  the  great 
Chicago  clubs.  Wholly  absorbed  in  worldly  mat- 
ters on  that  occasion,  my  two  friends  hardly  seemed 
like  reformers  devoted  to  philanthropic  work.  I 
inquire,  and  learn  that  such  instances  are  not  rare. 
Every  one  brings  what  he  can  to  this  charitable 
league,  —  merchants,  doctors,  teachers,  professors, 
students,  clergymen,  and  mothers  who  are  glad  to 
give  at  least  a  few  moments  to  the  day  nursery 
which  helps  so  many  other  mothers.  These  gentle- 
men tell  me  simply  that  they  have  engaged  board 


y6  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

at  Hull  House  for  three  or  four  weeks.  They 
speak  without  the  least  pride  of  the  work  which 
they  are  doing,  and  which  is  anything  but  easy, 
—  to  inspire  confidence  in  the  embittered  or  mis- 
trustful, to  study  their  wants,  to  help  them  to  help 
themselves.  Evidently  they  would  be  amazed, 
they  would  be  embarrassed,  if  any  admiration 
were  expressed  for  that  which  seems  to  them 
only  natural. 

After  dinner  we  go  into  the  parlor,  where  for 
nearly  half  an  hour  the  conversation  turns  upon 
the  most*varied  subjects,  —  travels,  fine  arts,  etc. 
I  talk  with  a  book-lover  who  knows  all  our  fine  edi- 
tions and  orders  his  bindings  from  Paris.  Much 
is  said  concerning  France.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  I 
feel  that  France  does  not  hold  the  first  place. 
They  admit  that  the  French  have  discovered,  in- 
vented, inaugurated  everything,  but  feel  that  we 
have  been  surpassed  by  broader  intellects  and  more 
steady  purposes.  Great  sympathy  is  expressed 
for  France,  but  there  is  not  so  much  esteem 
in  the  opinions  which  are  pronounced  with  the 
utmost  politeness.  We  are  measured  according  to 
the  revelations  of  our  novelists,  who  are  ranked 
very  high  from  a  purely  literary  point  of  view, 
although  there  is  a  pretence  that  only  those  of 
their  works  are  read  which  are  least  harmful  to 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  'JJ 

morals.  "  Andr6  Cornells,"  "  Cosmopolis,"  and 
the  psychological  essays  of  Paul  Bourget  are 
praised  ;  also  a  series  of  tales  by  Maupassant,  said 
to  be  admirably  translated  by  Bunner,  who  himself 
excels  in  short  stories.  Pierre  Loti  is  also  known 
through  translations,  —  to  which  I  impatiently  reply 
that  in  that  case  he  is  not  known  at  all.  This  re- 
mark is  scarcely  understood ;  for  manner  is  far 
less  important  than  matter  in  America,  even  in 
the  eyes  of  those  who  call  themselves  artists.  But 
Alphonse  Daudet  meets  with  universal  favor. 
**  Sappho "  is  classed  not  only  among  clever  but 
among  good  books. 

A  muffled  sound  of  footsteps  and  of  voices  has 
for  some  time  been  heard  in  the  hall.  Eight 
o'clock  strikes ;  we  all  return  to  the  dining-room, 
which  has  been  changed  to  a  lecture  room.  A 
drawn  curtain  reveals  a  platform,  and  in  front  of 
it,  benches  and  chairs  are  already  well  filled.  The 
prevailing  element  is  cosmopolitan :  plenty  of  those 
Russian  Jews  whom  I  have  met  before,  thin, 
bearded,  with  prominent  cheek-bones ;  their  black 
eyes,  sad  unto  desolation  or  burning  like  those  of 
hungry  wolves,  speak  of  long  persecutions,  weary 
wanderings,  hopeless  exile.  Do  they  understand 
English }  Few  of  them,  I  fancy ;  the  others,  with 
one  elbow  on  their  knee,  their  chin  in  one  hand. 


78  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

eagerly  stretch  their  necks  as  if  to  grasp  some  help 
from  a  word.  But  at  first  it  seems  as  if  the  speaker 
could  not  utter  any  words  of  consolation.  He  is 
a  professor  from  the  University,  —  a  Baptist  minis- 
ter too,  —  tall,  cold,  and  intelligent,  very  correct 
in  his  white  collar  and  long  frock  coat  Before 
he  begins  to  speak,  the  president  chosen  for  the 
evening,  a  little  old  man  from  the  neighborhood, 
seated  on  the  platform  by  a  table,  upon  which  lies 
Miss  Addams's  watch  like  a  call  to  order,  —  the 
president  says  in  a  jocose  tone,  addressing  the 
audience :  "  We  are  told  that  we  have  with  us 
to-night  a  person  of  great  learning,  a  famous  pro- 
fessor. No  doubt  he  will  instruct  and  at  the  same 
time  amuse  us."  The  satire  is  appreciated  by 
many.  Bitter  or  ominous  smiles  cross  more  than 
one  face,  then  profound  silence  ensues. 

This  death-like  silence  lasts,  without  the  shadow 
of  an  interruption,  for  an  hour,  —  the  allotted  time, 
—  while  Mr.  H.  discusses  the  social  problems, 
which  are  universally  thrust  upon  the  attention  of 
the  world,  trying  to  prove  that  it  is  wrong  to  make 
individuals  responsible  for  changes  caused  by  the 
advance  of  trade.  He  declares  himself  to  be  moved 
with  pity  for  the  errors  of  anarchy,  which  he  under- 
stands and  excuses,  but  which  society  cannot  toler- 
ate ;  he  asks  of  the  laborer  patience,  steady  effort, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  79 

the  economy  so  seldom  practised  in  America, 
just  as  he  asks  of  the  rich,  in  order  somewhat  to 
equalize  matters,  generous  sacrifices  which  can  only 
be  voluntary.  All  that  he  says  is  very  wise ;  but 
we  feel,  he  himself  must  feel,  that  there  is  no  cur- 
rent of  sympathy  between  his  audience  and  him- 
self.    Some  of  the  men  scribble  on  bits  of  paper. 

When  he  stops,  the  little  old  president,  whose 
wrinkled  face  reminds  us  of  Voltaire,  winks  his 
red  eyes  mischievously,  and  says  in  the  same  in- 
cisive tone,  which  makes  him  very  funny:  "  I  pro- 
phesied that  you  would  instruct  and  amuse  us. 
You  have  certainly  amused  us."  Then  he  gives 
the  floor  for  six  minutes  to  one  of  the  foreigners,  — 
a  Bohemian,  I  think,  —  who  rises  trembling  with 
emotion,  pale  to  the  very  lips.  His  jargon  is  at 
first  scarcely  intelligible,  but  what  he  says  is  in 
no  way  ordinary,  and  by  force  of  will,  he  makes 
himself  understood.  "  It  may  be,"  he  declares, 
"  apparently  no  one  is  guilty,  therefore  we  bear  no 
grudge  to  any  one;  but  what  are  we  to  do?  I 
was  a  shoemaker ;  suppose  I  offer  now  to  make  a 
shoe,  myself  alone,  when  there  are  machines  for 
nailing  and  sewing  all  the  separate  parts !  The 
man  who  has  learned  a  trade  and  can  no  longer 
support  himself  by  it,  is  dismissed  without  any 
compensation.     Moreover,  you  are   right,  —  there 


8o  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

is  no  vengeance  to  be  taken  for  all  this ;  we  can 
only  wait.  Nature  takes  it  upon  herself  to  sup- 
press all  that  is  useless  or  bad.  When  you  see 
a  drunkard  reeling  across  the  street,  you  know 
that  it  will  not  last  long,  that  his  degraded  exis- 
tence will  soon  be  ended  through  the  very  fault  of 
him  who  leads  it.  Well !  when  I  see  a  useless  man 
roll  by  me  in  his  carriage,  I  feel  that  the  same 
holds  good  for  him  and  his  like.     Wait !  " 

I  am  sure  that  I  have  added  nothing  to  the 
words  of  this  singular  creature,  who  certainly  must 
have  read  Schopenhauer;  indeed,  I  took  notes. 
His  bony  hand,  clutching  the  back  of  the  chair 
before  him,  trembled  constantly  while  he  struggled 
with  the  difficulties  of  a  peculiar  accent,  impossible 
to  describe.  His  face  was  a  fine  one,  marked  and 
brown  like  that  of  an  Arab.  When  he  had  done, 
he  closed  his  eyes  and  stood  quivering,  his  chin 
resting  on  his  heaving  chest. 

After  him  a  big,  pale  fellow,  with  an  amiable 
expression,  asked  a  few  questions,  apparently  in 
good  faith,  as  to  the  means  of  finding  work;  he 
had  not  succeeded  either  by  help  of  the  churches 
or  through  the  charitable  associations.  Another, 
as  sunburned  as  any  present,  but  with  the  red  of 
whiskey  in  his  cheeks,  declared,  almost  with  a 
laugh,  that  for  his  part  he  did  not  object  to  steam 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  8 1 

saws,  knowing  how  hard  it  was  to  use  his  arms, 
in  all  sorts  of  weather,  in  thick  forests,  and  for 
years  at  a  time.  To  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that 
in  the  three  years  when  he  had  worked  hardest, 
he  had  only  earned  enough  for  his  food  and  lodg- 
ing.    Was  that  fair? 

Then  a  little  German  rose,  furious  as  a  dog  about 
to  bite ;  he  had  the  face  of  a  pug,  with  a  turned- 
up  nose,  big  prominent  eyes,  yellow  bristles,  a 
nasal  and  vibrating  voice :  "  It  is  all  very  well 
for  professors  and  ministers,  it  is  all  very  well  for 
loafers,"  he  exclaimed,  "  to  instruct  those  who  are 
killing  themselves  with  work.  They  have  no  right 
to  do  so  unless  they  come  and  live  among  us,  and 
work  hard  with  us.  They  know  very  well  that 
society  is  ill  organized,  and  that  in  justice  every- 
thing ought  to  be  changed  from  beginning  to  end, 
willy  nilly;  but  they  will  not  admit  it  for  fear  they 
should  lose  their  places  and  their  salaries,  poltroons, 
cowards,  and  thieves  that  they  are." 

The  irascible  German  spent  more  than  the  allotted 
six  minutes  in  invectives  which  the  cunning  presi- 
dent reluctantly  cut  short.  The  professor  showed 
much  patience.  He  listened,  without  a  word  of 
answer,  to  the  insults  hurled  at  him.  I  am  amazed 
that  Miss  Addams  allows  her  guests  to  be  so  ill- 
treated.     Miss  Starr  bends  anxiously  to  her  ear, 

6 


82  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

and  seems  to  beg  her  to  interfere ;  but  I  seem  to 
hear  her  reply:  "We  know  them;  they  are  not 
so  terrible  as  they  seem."  She  therefore  main- 
tains an  impartial  attitude,  it  being  her  conviction 
that  all  this  rage  and  rancor  require  a  safety 
valve.     Besides,  mental  labor  is  to  find  defenders. 

A  delicate  young  man,  with  light-blue  Irish  eyes, 
better  dressed  than  the  others,  a  watch-chain  across 
his  waistcoat,  protests  against  the  term  "  loafers  " 
applied  to  all  who  are  not  mere  day-laborers.  He 
has,  he  says,  worked  in  both  ways,  and  he  feels 
that  brain  work  is  the  hardest  work  of  all.  He 
tells  his  own  experiences  in  very  simple  style. 
After  years  of  utter  destitution,  he  went  to  Califor- 
nia and  had  charge  of  a  large  ranch,  with  many 
men  under  him.  Of  these  men  some  prosper,  as 
he  has  prospered.  But  to  succeed,  more  is  re- 
quired of  a  man  than  merely  to  do  his  duty;  that 
is  not  enough  in  an  age  of  mad  competition.  Then 
he  quotes  the  case  of  two  boys,  his  subordinates. 
One  was  a  good  worker  in  so  far  as  he  did  his 
work  to  the  letter;  he  was  paid  and  dismissed 
when  his  task  was  ended.  The  other  worked  night 
and  day,  defying  all  rivalry  by  his  zeal;  he  now 
earns  seventy  dollars  a  month.  The  speaker's 
conclusion  was  that  to  succeed  a  man  must  have 
the  will  to  succeed,  —  not  a  mere  weak  will,  which 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  83 

SO  many  have,  but  real  will :  a  gesture  completed 
his  thought.  No  doubt  this  fair-haired  fellow,  with 
muscles  of  steel,  desired  success,  —  desired  it  until 
there  was  no  flesh  left  on  his  bones. 

Several  others  also  spoke ;  many  of  them  were 
foolish  and  clumsy :  theirs  were  but  the  vague 
stammerings  of  anarchy.  Finally,  the  little,  bent, 
wrinkled  president,  with  his  bristling  white  hair, 
made  a  show  of  passion.  He  too  would  reply  to 
the  grand  professor  who  recommends  economy  to 
those  who  have  nothing,  work  to  those  who  are 
driven  away  from  every  shop ;  and  who  showed 
himself  so  hard  on  tramps,  or  vagabonds,  seeming 
to  confound  them  with  criminals.  "  A  vagabond ! 
Why,  Jesus  Christ  was  nothing  more !  The  gospel 
says :  '  Foxes  have  holes  and  birds  have  nests,  but 
the  Son  of  Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head?  * 
If  Christ  were  to  return,  his  ministers,  far  from 
acknowledging  him,  would  hand  him  over  to  the 
police  to  be  locked  up.  Savings  indeed !  One 
would  think  a  man  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  go 
to  the  bank  and  deposit  his  little  hoard.  Christ 
did  not  save ;  he  had  no  home.  And  this  is  the 
way  the  false  apostles  of  the  present  day,  who  are 
supposed  to  teach  his  doctrine,  talk !  " 

The  little  president  paces  the  platform,  shrugging 
his  shoulders,  his  hcmds  in  his  pockets.     But  Miss 


84  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

Addams's  watch,  on  which  he  keeps  his  eye,  warns 
him  to  stop ;  and  then  the  event  proves  that  the 
patron  saint  of  the  place  was  right  in  her  favorite 
theory. 

It  seems  as  if  the  insults  lavished  upon  him  like 
hail  had  struck  a  spark  from  that  somewhat  rigid 
scholar,  who  came  hither  resting  on  his  honorable 
superiority.  He  was  accused  in  the  name  of  the 
gospel,  —  in  the  gospel,  in  his  turn,  he  finds  a 
defensive  weapon ;  but  he  uses  it  humorously,  in 
a  familiar  way,  which  will  change  the  feeling  of 
the  club  towards  him.  Straightening  his  herculean 
form,  he  says :  "  If  I  have  spoken  ill  of  vaga- 
bonds, it  strikes  me  that  you  have  treated  me  as 
a  coward,  a  loafer,  and  a  thief;  I  think  we  are 
quits.  I  see  but  one  way  to  carry  on  a  conver- 
sation started  on  this  plane,  —  to  go  out  into  the 
street  with  you,  and  have  it  out  with  you  with  blows  ; 
but  there,  too,  you  might  be  too  strong  for  me.  I 
prefer  to  admit  that  there  is  truth  in  much  that 
you  have  said  ;  but  insults  never  amount  to  any- 
thing, especially  when  we  fling  them  at  strangers. 
I  might  tell  you  the  story  of  my  life,  show  you 
how  hard  it  has  been ;  but  what  would  be  the  use? 
I  will  only  tell  you  this :  My  father  was  both  doc- 
tor and  clergyman,  and  was  a  credit  to  both  pro- 
fessions.    It  can  no  longer  be  so ;    a  doctor  now 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  85 

has  all  he  can  do  to  keep  up  with  the  advance  of 
science,  —  he  must  become  a  specialist,  choose  be- 
Uveen  the  various  branches.  The  same  man  can 
no  longer  manufacture,  as  you  just  now  said,  even 
a  shoe  by  himself  alone.  To  win  any  sort  of  a 
position  now  requires  much  greater  persistence 
than  it  once  did ;  a  man  must  concentrate  his  atten- 
tion on  a  single  object.  So  I,  for  myself,  would  be 
glad  to  work  with  my  hands  for  my  own  pleasure ; 
and,  strong  as  I  am,  it  would  do  me  good  to  turn 
over  the  soil  in  a  garden  for  two  or  three  hours 
a  day.  But  I  cannot  do  this,  because  you  trust 
your  children  to  me  to  educate,  and  you  naturally 
expect  me  to  be  wholly  absorbed  in  my  task,  which 
is  to  instruct  them.  My  friends,  many  things  are 
put  into  the  mouths  of  the  ministers  of  religion, 
forgetting  that  these  opinions  are  almost  all  re- 
peated by  a  special  class  of  individuals,  —  those 
who  never  go  to  church.  It  is  these  people  who 
charge  us  with  ignorance  of  Christ.  Perhaps  I 
spoke  too  severely  of  vagabonds,  who  do  nothing 
worse  than  to  secure  food  and  lodging ;  they  too 
are  my  brothers.  But  having  several  brothers, 
you  will  allow  that  it  is  admissible  to  have  a  pre- 
ference for  one  or  the  other  of  them,  —  for  the 
one  who  leads  the  most  straightforward  life,  and 
gives    the    least    trouble,   although  we    may    be 


86  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

ready  all  the  same  to  lend  a  hand  to  the  others, 
not  forgetting  to  punish  them  if  necessary,  I 
know  that  kind  of  love.  I  was  the  only  boy  in  a 
large  family,  and  I  had  plenty  of  love ;  but  it  did  n't 
prevent  me  from  catching  all  the  licking." 

At  the  word  "  licking  "  there  was  some  laughter, 
followed  by  applause.  Then,  emboldened  by  his 
expression  of  good-will  for  even  the  worst,  a  few 
men  offered  their  hands  to  Mr.  H.,  who  had  at 
last  struck  the  right  key.  I  am  astonished  to  see 
the  fiery  German  among  them.  He  stands  for 
some  time  in  a  door-way  talking  and  arguing  with 
the  victim  of  his  insolent  outburst,  who,  like  a  good 
Christian,  seems  to  have  forgotten  all  the  names 
bestowed  on  him. 

The  meeting  breaks  up  after  a  few  words  from 
Miss  Starr,  announcing  the  next  meeting,  and  the 
fact  that  a  famous  preacher  would  speak  of  religious 
matters  with  all  who  were  interested.  They  would 
be  allowed  to  express  their  doubts  and  personal 
ideas  in  writing ;  but  she  hoped,  for  the  honor  of 
the  house,  that  they  would  be  good  enough  to 
remember  the  respect  due  to  guests  who  came 
there  as  friends  and  with  the  best  of  motives.  She 
ingeniously  addresses  a  few  indirect  reproaches 
to  the  men,  who  receive  them  with  half  timid,  half 
indifferent  manner. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  8/ 

'  But  Miss  Addams  is  surrounded  by  a  group  to 
whom  she  explains  that  a  great  stock  of  coal 
having  been  laid  in  for  Hull  House,  they  can 
come  there  and   buy  it   cheaper  than  at  retail. 

^The  news  is  welcome  at  the  beginning  of  winter; 
but  I  fancy  that  those  poor  wretches  are  more 
benefited  still  by  the  kindness  of  the  look  which 

"  she  fixes  on  them,  —  a  look  full  of  suffering,  for 
Miss  Addams's  eyes,  beautiful  as  they  are,  have 
just  undergone  a  painful  operation.  This  has  no 
more  effect  than  anything  else  in  turning  her 
from  her  customary  task.  Delicate  from  her 
early  youth,  she  has  answered  the  medical  decree 
that  she  could  only  live  if  spared  all  fatigue,  by 
an  extraordinary  expenditure  of  energy.  And 
she  lives  as  by  a  miracle:  she  forgets  her  body; 
she  is  possibly  the  most  perfect  and  unconscious 
instance  of  the  kind  of  moral  hygiene  now  pop- 
ular in  the  United  States  under  the  name  of 
Christian  Science,  of  which  I  shall  take  occasion 
to  speak  later. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  Miss  Addams  is  a 
member  of  the  Woman's  Club  like  Mrs.  Carse, 
like  Miss  Willard,  like  Mrs.  Logan,  whom  charity 
has  led  to  the  most  repulsive  of  all  duties,  that  of 
the  police.  Mrs.  Logan  is  the  chief  matron,  and 
does  an  incalculable  amount  of  good  in  that  posi- 


88  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

tion.  Criminals  and  unfortunates  are  indiscrimi- 
nately conducted  to  one  and  the  same  station; 
there  she  subjects  them  to  a  sifting  process.  She 
takes  care  of  such  poor  girls  as  have  still  a  linger- 
ing spark  of  moral  sense,  and  insures  them  the 
means  to  rise.  She  pleads  for  her  protegees,  if 
need  be,  goes  with  them  to  the  judge  to  give 
them  courage,  knows  no  fatigue  or  disgust. 

Such  women  should  surely  be  allowed  the  right 
to  demand  certain  privileges,  for  they  undertake 
tremendous  tasks.  I  am  made  acquainted  with 
their  work  by  one  of  the  celebrities  of  Chicago, 
—  Mrs.  Margaret  Sullivan,  a  brilliant  journalist, 
who  daily  writes  the  leading  article  in  the 
"Herald."  She  says:  "The  power  of  American 
women  reformers  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  have 
always  personally  deserved  public  esteem ;  not 
one  of  them  has  dipped  into  eccentricities  of  base 
quality,  such  as  advocating  free  love,  or  making 
a  parade  of  dangerous  socialist  theories.  Even 
the  earliest  in  date,  those  who  put  themselves 
forward  with  more  noise  than  is  common  now, 
and  who  drew  down  upon  themselves  the  sort  of 
ridicule  which  affects  shriekers,  were,  without 
exception,  irreproachable  from  the  point  of  view 
of  morals.  The  Stantons,  the  Anthonys,  the 
Lucy  Stones,  those  apostles  of  the  emancipation 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  89 

of  woman,  may  have  been  berated  as  fanatics  and 
ranters  at  first,  but  they  were  always  respected 
as  honest  women.  The  most  advanced  members 
of  the  Woman's  Club  are  good  wives  and  mothers. 
Accordingly,  the  men  see  no  reason  for  opposing 
the  movement  which  they  lead;  they  applaud  their 
efforts  and  their  triumphs.  Whenever  it  shall 
please  women  to  claim  complete  political  rights, 
the  men  of  their  family  and  their  circle  will  not 
resist ;  they  are  restrained  by  their  own  wisdom. " 
Mrs.  Sullivan  said  this  as  she  showed  me  the 
offices,  the  presses,  and  the  entire,  vast,  and  mag- 
nificent establishment  of  the  "Herald."  No 
writer  on  its  staff  receives  a  higher  salary  than 
she,  which  is  saying  a  great  deal.  Three  other 
women  are  regularly  employed  on  this  paper.  I 
take  great  pleasure  in  talking  with  one  of  them, 
Mrs.  Mary  Abbott,  who  has  charge  of  the  purely 
literary  part,  —  book  notices,  book  news,  etc. 
We  see  that  women  are  everywhere  to  the  fore 
in  Chicago.  Probably  no  name  of  all  the  names 
of  those  who  organized  the  World's  Fair  was 
repeated  so  often  as  that  of  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer; 
and  a  young  girl,  a  graceful  poet,  with  the  face 
of  a  muse,  —  Miss  Harriet  Monroe,  —  was  com- 
missioned to  write  the  Columbian  ode  recited  on 
the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery 


90  THE  CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

of  America,  October  21,  1892,  during  the  inaug- 
ural festival  of  the  Palace  of  Liberal  Arts.  Cer- 
tain passages,  set  to  music,  were  given  by  a 
chorus  of  five  thousand  voices,  accompanied  by 
a  vast  orchestra  and  brass  bands.  Miss  Monroe, 
who  belongs  to  a  family  of  artists  and  writers, 
is  the  author  of  a  tragedy  in  verse  and  of  short 
poems  by  no  means  to  be  regarded  as  Western 
wild  weeds.  Lovers  of  that  class  of  products 
must  seek  them  in  the  very  variegated  garden  of 
Eugene  Field,  pre-eminently  the  local  writer. 

I  have  said  that  Chicago  combines  all  sorts  of 
contrasts;  but  nothing  is  more  unexpected  than 
the  dominion  of  woman  in  that  great  centre  of 
vigorous  manhood,  in  that  focus  of  traffic  and 
trade,  where  everything  at  first  sight  seems  rough, 
the  climate  and  the  ambient  atmosphere,  both 
moral  and  physical.  Nowhere  did  it  seem  to  me  so 
strongly  marked ;  although  from  North  to  South, 
and  from  East  to  West,  to  sum  up  my  impres- 
sions, I  heard  but  a  paraphrase  of  John  Stuart 
Mill's  assertion,  so  eloquently  commented  upon 
by  Mrs.  Maud  Howe  Elliott,  in  speaking  of  the 
World's  Fair:  "Woman's  hour  has  struck."  It 
has  indeed  struck  in  the  United  States,  with  the 
chivalric  consent  of  man. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  9I 

II. 

BOSTON. 

I  SPENT  more  time  in  Boston  than  in  any  other 
city  of  the  Union ;  and  the  longer  I  lived  there, 
the  fonder  I  became  of  it.  But  this  required  no 
great  effort,  —  the  first  impression  was  enough ; 
and  even  now,  when  I  try  to  recall  my  memories, 
the  thought  of  Boston  is  all  predominant!  Be- 
fore it  dawned  upon  me  as  the  most  polished 
city  in  America,  Boston  dazzled  me  as  a  dream 
of  beauty.  This  may  perhaps  be  due  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  my  arrival.  It  was  evening ;  and 
next  morning,  when  I  woke,  I  saw  from  my  win- 
dow, the  blinds  being  open,  a  panorama  which 
I  can  never  forget.  Beneath  a  cloudless  sky, 
deeply  tinged  with  rose,  —  one  of  those  American 
skies  which  seem  so  much  loftier  than  those  of 
France, —  stretched  the  wonderful  Charles  River, 
sparkling  as  if  sprinkled  with  diamonds,  broad 
as  an  arm  of  the  sea.  No  passing  steamer  dis- 
turbed its  solitude  at  that  early  hour;  it  was  not 
the  season  when  it  is  covered  with  pleasure  boats ; 
not  a  sloop,  or  a  schooner  on  the  horizon,  —  only 
a   dredging-machine    cast   its   black   shadow  on 


92  THE  CONDITION  OF    WOMAN 

that  sun-flecked  sheet.  The  water,  which  is  sub- 
ject to  the  influence  of  the  tide,  flowed  up  to  the 
wall  of  the  garden  beneath  my  window,  washing 
on  one  side  the  semicircular  quay  bordered  by 
straight,  red,  lofty  roofs  and  on  the  other,  one 
of  the  Cambridge  bridges.  Opposite,  beyond 
the  long  bridge,  flung  boldly  between  the  two 
sister  cities  which  are  in  constant  communica- 
tion, wooded  hills  were  outlined  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  crystalline  purity.  The  factories  and 
warehouses  built  on  piles,  to  my  right,  looked 
like  great  monuments  with  their  square  towers, 
their  massive  silhouettes.  The  telegraph  poles, 
whose  quivering  shadows  were  reflected  in  the 
water,  —  sea,  stream,  great  canal  or  lagoon,  — 
seemed  waiting  for  some  one  to  moor  up  a  fleet 
of  gondolas  to  them.  I  could  almost  fancy  my- 
self in  Venice;  and  the  peaceful  aspect  of  the 
scene  completed  the  illusion.  But  Charles 
River  sunrises  are  as  nothing  compared  to  the 
sunsets.  I  remember,  in  winter,  certain  opaline 
thaws,  —  the  sky  becoming  a  vivid  red  towards 
four  o'clock,  then  gradually  brightening  and  pass- 
ing through  every  shade  of  orange  and  greenish 
yellow,  into  the  clearest  blue,  the  calm  and 
almost  somnolent  water  serving  as  a  mirror  for 
this  magic  show.     Still  frozen  along  the  shore, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  93 

its  cakes  of  ice  glimmered  in  the  light  of  the 
earliest  street  lamps.  I  remember  too,  in  sea- 
sons of  remorseless  cold,  the  aurora-borealis-like 
tones  of  sky  and  water,  —  houses,  boats  and 
naked  trees  standing  out  against  that  crimson  in 
black  relief  whose  slightest  details  were  most 
clearly  marked;  then  the  conflagration,  growing 
smoky,  died  out  by  degrees,  leaving  ashes  only, 
after  the  disappearance  of  a  large  red  rayless 
ball,  the  strange  Northern  sun.  The  wavy  line 
of  the  hills  faded  into  that  expiring  gray.  And 
twilight  once  fallen,  the  Charles  River  looked 
like  a  lake  of  quivering  steel,  in  which  the  lines 
of  fire  lighted  along  the  wharves  and  on  the  long 
bridge  were  extended  into  infinity;  as  each  car 
passed,  invisible  in  the  darkness,  showers  of 
sparks  lit  up  all  the  windows  in  the  great  build- 
ings on  the  Cambridge  shore,  which  in  this  inter- 
mittent illumination  more  than  ever  assumed  the 
aspect  of  fairy  palaces,  commonplace  though  they 
might  actually  be. 

The  very  variable  climate,  with  its  sudden 
changes  from  one  extreme  to  another,  explains 
the  infinite  variety  of  the  sky,  so  different  from 
that  of  France,  still  more  from  the  English 
sky.  I  gazed  from  that  window  by  day  and  by 
night  upon  a  spectacle  ever  changing,  ever  splen- 


94  THE  CONDITION  OF   WOMAN 

did,  save  when  one  of  those  endless  tempests  of 
snow,  of  which  those  living  in  Europe  can  form  no 
idea,  was  raging.  How  can  I  describe  the  moon- 
light which  suddenly  followed  those  storms  fleck- 
ing the  half-frozen  river  in  which  pillars  of  fire 
were  bathed?  I  was  only  separated  from  it  by 
the  narrow  garden  covered  with  a  white  sheet. 
Every  idea  of  earth  vanished;  I  seemed  to  soar 
above  that  silver  flood  as  freely  as  the  gulls  who 
appeared  in  flocks  with  the  first  rays  of  dawn. 

These  effects  produced  by  the  changing  season 
and  the  varying  atmosphere  are  inseparable  in 
my  memory  from  the  delicious  hospitality  which 
lent  them  a  festal  character;  and  when  people 
tell  me  that  after  all  Boston  is  only  a  city  of  five 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  merely  the  capital 
of  Massachusetts,  I  find  it  hard  to  believe  them, 
in  view  of  the  royal  phastasmagoria  of  the  Charles 
River.  Those  who  love  contrasts  cannot  do 
better  than  to  visit  Boston  after  Chicago,  with- 
out a  break.  They  will  abruptly  breathe  the 
atmosphere  of  the  past. 

If  we  walk  through  the  old  part  of  the  town, 
crooked  and  irregular  as  it  is,  we  might  imagine 
ourselves  in  some  old  English  city;  the  tangled 
iron  wires  of  telegraph  and  telephone  visible 
above   the   street,    alone    lend   it  an    individual 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  95 

aspect.  Such  districts  as  Commonwealth  Avenue 
or  Beacon  Street  are  broad  avenues  lined  with 
dwellings  whose  impressive  architectural  regu- 
larity is  unimpaired  by  any  showy  ornamenta- 
tion. These  houses  are  entered  from  a  porch 
preceded  by  a  flight  of  steps;  over  most  of  the 
granite  or  sandstone  fronts  spreads  the  delicate 
tapestry  of  a  Japanese  vine  known  as  Boston  ivy; 
its  reddish  foliage,  which  in  autumn  becomes  of 
the  color  of  coral,  is  a  delight  to  the  eye.  Behind 
the  window-panes  is  a  wealth  of  flowers,  which 
shows  the  elegance  of  those  drawing-rooms  where 
people  certainly  talk  better  and  in  lower  tones 
than  anywhere  else  in  America,  Having  once 
been  the  chief  city  in  the  Union, — and  with 
Philadelphia,  the  one  which  played  the  most 
illustrious  part  in  the  Revolution,  —  Boston  now 
affects  a  somewhat  provincial  character;  but  this 
provincialism,  with  which  it  is  reproached  by 
those  outside  its  fashionable  and  literary  circles, 
is  in  itself  an  attraction.  Boston  ians  have  made 
their  city,  as  it  were,  the  casket  for  the  noble 
memories  of  a  land  whose  history  is  as  yet  but 
brief.  They  live  with  their  eyes  fixed  on  the 
gilded  dome  of  the  State  House,  which  con- 
tains so  many  honorable  trophies ;  on  the  ancient 
graveyard  where  citizens  like  Samuel  Adams  and 


g6  THE  CONDITION  OF   WOMAN 

John  Hancock  sleep;  on  Bunker  Hill  Monument, 
which  marks  the  spot  where  the  British  troops 
were  held  in  check  by  'prentice  hands,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  art  of  war  but  that  they  must 
stand  firm  and  shoot  close.  They  pride  them- 
selves on  Faneuil  Hall,  that  cradle  of  American 
liberty.  The  word  "old"  is  constantly  on  their 
lips  when  they  speak  of  their  possessions.  To 
be  sure,  their  antiquity  goes  no  farther  back  than 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  and 
has  left  behind  but  few  monuments  worthy  of 
the  name;  but,  lacking  these,  Boston  sets  on  foot 
ingenious  plans  for  preserving  and  renewing  patri- 
otic pride  in  the  hearts  of  her  children.  This 
very  year,  on  the  night  of  April  19,  a  moving 
celebration  took  place  in  commemoration  of  Paul 
Revere's  glorious  ride,  —  the  event  which  pre- 
ceded the  Lexington  fight,  where  Massachusetts 
militia-men  and  farmers  got  the  better  of  English 
regulars.  Signals  were  lighted  this  spring  night 
at  the  north  end  of  the  town,  in  the  little  belfry 
of  Christ  Church,  the  same  which  in  1775  warned 
the  country  of  the  march  of  the  British  troops  on 
Concord;  and  a  rider,  in  the  dress  of  the  Colonial 
period,  galloped  over  the  six  miles  traversed  by 
Paul  Revere,  calling  to  arms  the  sleeping  farmers, 
who  answered  as  of  yore.     The  only  difference 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  97 

was  that  now  their  cheers  were  mingled  with 
fireworks ;  and  when  the  long  silent  bells  of  the 
little  North  Church  -began  to  ring,  every  bell 
round  about  answered  them  in  chorus.  Such 
scenes  are  calculated  to  affect  the  most  ignorant 
and  insensible,  and  to  develop  in  others  a  gener- 
ous ardor. 

We  understand,  if  we  live  in  Boston,  and 
imbue  our  mind  with  its  spirit,  the  sort  of  ill 
will  which  England  still  feels  for  the  colony 
which  escaped  from  her  rule,  —  an  ill  will  be- 
trayed by  a  systematic  blackening  of  everything 
American.  Here,  for  instance,  is  a  city  where 
the  English  find  the  traces  of  their  defeats  pre- 
served as  precious  relics,  and  where  no  less 
evident  traces  of  their  moral,  intellectual,  and 
literary  influence  endure,  —  a  city  both  hostile 
and  of  close  kin,  whose  every  stone  recalls 
one  of  those  family  quarrels  which  are  the 
most  violent  of  all.  Plainly,  it  is  far  less  easy 
to  do  it  justice  than  to  praise  with  contemptuous 
indulgence  Chicago  and  her  progress  as  of  a  new- 
born giant,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  Great 
Britain  would  be  glad  to  claim  a  thinker  like 
Emerson,  a  novelist  like  Hawthorne,  both  of 
whom  are  purely  Bostonian,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  have  added  masterpieces  to   English 

7 


98  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

literature.  When  we  think  of  the  long  list  of 
select  spirits  produced  by  Boston,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  forgive  her  for  becoming,  from  a  very 
excess  of  her  good  qualities  of  enthusiasm  and 
veneration,  something  like  a  great  mutual  admira- 
tion society.  As  for  me,  I  can  no  more  wonder 
at  the  anecdotes  told  of  Longfellow,  Lowell, 
Whittier,  Bancroft,  Prescott,  Channing,  and 
Theodore  Parker,  than  at  the  pious  care  which 
marks  by  a  bust  or  an  inscription  those  spots  in 
the  city  where  Franklin,  Daniel  Webster,  and 
Charles  Sumner  were  born.  The  presence  of 
the  illustrious  dead,  to  whom  secret  and  con- 
stant worship  is  paid,  adds  to  the  somewhat 
solemn  nature  of  Boston.  The  great  dead 
seem  to  be  even  more  alive  than  the  living  them- 
selves ;  the  living  summon  them  up,  quote  them, 
talk  of  them  on  every  occasion.  Indeed,  we  are 
religiously  shown  the  place  occupied  until  1876, 
among  the  ancient  elms  on  the  Common,  by  the 
oldest  of  them  all,  the  Old  Elm,  before  the 
foundation  of  the  city;  its  shadow  still  rests 
upon  it. 

If  Massachusetts,  and  especially  Boston,  be 
justly  proud  of  the  men  to  whom  they  have  given 
birth,  they  are  none  the  less  honored  as  the 
parents  of  a  group  of  women  whose  equals  it 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  99 

would  be  hard  to  find  elsewhere.  As  far  back  as 
the  earliest  Colonial  days,  we  find  names  which 
must  ever  be  surrounded  by  an  aureole  of  courage, 
virtue,  devotion  to  the  new  home.  Anne  Hutch- 
inson was  one  of  the  first  to  break  with  estab- 
lished authorities,  albeit  it  was  only  in  the  field 
of  religious  argument.  The  wives  of  Adams, 
Knox,  and  Hancock  helped  by  their  energy  and 
their  personal  sacrifices  to  establish  indepen- 
dence ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  most 
heroic  dames  is  that  Mrs.  Gushing  who  at  the  time 
of  the  declaration  of  rights  was  willing,  with  her 
friends,  to  go  dressed  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts 
rather  than  to  buy  English  goods.  Deborah 
Sampson,  who  served  in  the  ranks  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary army,  was  also  a  native  of  Massachu- 
setts. Never  was  the  protest  against  slavery 
more  eloquent  than  in  the  mouths  of  Boston 
women.  Lydia  Maria  Child  strove  side  by  side 
with  those  champions  of  liberty.  Garrison  and 
Wendell  Phillips;  Maria  W.  Chapman  lent  the 
lustre  of  her  beauty  and  her  spiritual  power  to 
the  good  cause.  During  the  war  between  North 
and  South,  women  everywhere  outdid  each  other 
in  devotion;  but  the  New  England  Woman's 
Auxiliary  Association  furnished  more  than 
^3 14, OCX)   in  money  and   supplies   for   Northern 


lOO  THE  CONDITION    OF   WOMAN 

soldiers.  Mrs.  Livermore  —  whose  name  is  well 
known  as  the  president  of  the  first  congress  for 
the  advancement  of  women  held  by  the  Associa- 
tion —  at  that  time  organized  the  first  of  those 
Sanitary  Fairs  which  produced  such  fruitful 
results.  Her  double  gift  of  pen  and  tongue,  her 
tremendous  activity  were  at  the  service  of  the 
Union  throughout  the  war.  Clara  Barton,  head  of 
the  Red  Cross  movement ;  Susan  B.  Anthony  and 
Lucy  Stone,  leaders  of  the  Woman's  Suffrage 
cause;  the  generous  abolitionist,  Lucretia  Coffin 
Mott,  — were  all  born  in  Massachusetts,  although 
their  influence  spread  far  beyond  her  borders. 

As  for  the  Boston  women  who  have  worked  to 
advance  the  science  of  education,  how.  can  I  name 
them  all.?  I  shall  try  to  show,  when  I  describe 
my  visits  to  various  colleges,  the  impulse  given 
to  the  Woman's  Annex  of  Harvard  University 
by  Mrs.  Agassiz,  widow  of  the  great  naturalist. 
A  daughter  of  Agassiz,  Mrs.  Shaw,  also  devotes 
her  time  to  pedagogy  with  equal  wisdom  and 
generosity.  About  the  year  i860,  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Peabody  imported  Froebel's  method.  Mrs. 
Shaw  established  and  for  fifteen  years  supported 
sixteen  free  kindergartens,  which  now  belong  to 
the  city.  Under  her  direction,  and  thanks  to 
her  inexhaustible  liberality,    experiments  of  all 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  10 1 

sorts  have  been  tried,  —  manual  work  in  public 
schools,  industrial  schools,  vacation  schools,  and 
day  nurseries.  Her  preparatory  school  for  boys 
and  girls  has  long  held  a  unique  position.  Here 
we  see  a  truly  national  spirit  of  independence  and 
enterprise.  A  desire  to  educate  her  own  children 
in  her  own  way,  outside  the  existing  methods, 
determined  Mrs.  Shaw  to  establish  this  school. 

Mrs.  Mary  Hemenway  deserves  the  utmost 
praise  for  perceiving  that  feminine  arts  stood  in 
great  need  of  encouragement  in  America,  where 
cooking  and  sewing  are  generally  neglected  for 
love  of  Greek.  She  established  practise  lessons 
in  the  public  schools  for  the  purpose  of  training 
housewives;  she  devoted  herself  to  re-establishing 
a  good  condition  of  the  wretched  body,  too  often 
despised  by  youthful  scholars,  adding  gymnastics 
to  their  other  lessons.  She  fanned  the  flames  of 
patriotism  by  paying  the  cost  of  free  lectures  on 
American  history,  to  be  given  in  the  Old  South 
Church,  filled  with  relics  connected  with  that 
history;  she  established  the  ground-work  of  the 
first  museum  of  American  archaeology. 

In  the  field  of  Science,  Massachusetts  has  pro- 
duced an  astronomer  held  in  high  esteem  by 
Herschel,  Humboldt,  and  Le  Verrier,  —  Maria 
Mitchell;  in  art,  a  sculptor, — Arrne  Whitney, 


102  THE  CONDITION  OF   WOMAN 

who  has  two  of  her  statues  in  Boston  public 
squares;  several  painters  (I  visited  the  studios 
of  Miss  Greene  and  Miss  Bartol,  Mrs.  Sears  and 
Mrs.  Whitman);  and  a  famous  actress,  Charlotte 
Cushman.  The  first  volume  of  American  poetry 
was  by  a  woman,  —  Anne  Bradstreet,  in  1650. 
Margaret  Fuller  —  who  wrote  Latin  verse  at  the 
age  of  eight,  who  lectured  in  German,  French, 
and  Italian,  and  bore  a  part  in  the  best  days 
of  transcendentalism,  in  the  Fourieristic  experi- 
ments at  Brook  Farm  —  opened  that  celebrated 
conversation  class  whose  influence  still  lives  in 
Boston.  Her  object  was  to  pass  in  review  all 
departments  of  knowledge,  striving  to  mark  the 
relations  existing  between  them,  to  systematize 
thought,  and  to  diffuse  those  qualities  of  precision 
and  clearness  which  are  but  too  rare  among 
women. 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe.  — The  New 
England  Woman's  Club. 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  ranks  first,  and  that 
not  only  by  seniority.  I  knew  a  number  of 
her  works  on  social  and  other  questions.  I  knew 
that  for  forty  years  her  name  had  been  a  part  of 
every  movement  of  the  woman's  cause  in  America, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  IO3 

—  and  yet  I  did  not  suspect  the  importance  of 
the  part  which  she  played  until  a  very  simple 
incident  revealed  it  to  me. 

An  early  morning  sleigh-ride  led  me  to  a  fine 
country  mansion  near  Milton.  After  luncheon,  I 
was  chatting  with  Americans  of  the  best  society, 
most  well-informed  as  to  all  European  matters, 
although  they  do  not  pass  the  greater  part  of 
their  life  abroad  as  so  many  do,  knowing  too 
well  how  many  necessary  things  yet  remain  to 
be  done  in  their  own  country,  in  which  it  is  their 
duty  to  assist.  A  most  agreeable  old  man  told 
anecdotes  of  his  youthful  experiences  in  Paris, 
and  of  the  impression,  still  vivid,  made  on  him  by 
Rachel's  singing,  or  rather  declaiming,  of  the 
Marseillaise.  All  at  once  soft  music  was  heard 
in  a  corner  of  the  room,  —  a  sort  of  military 
march,  played  by  a  young  woman  seated  at  the 
piano.  I  asked  what  it  was,  and  found  that 
it  was  the  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,  the 
battle  hymn  of  the  Northern  troops  during  the 
Civil  War.  At  first,  I  was  told,  it  was  set  to 
savage  and  sanguinary  words,  lines  of  vengeance 
inspired  by  the  death  of  John  Brown,  —  the  old 
abolitionist  farmer  who  undertook  to  rouse  the 
blacks  to  revolt  before  the  declaration  of  war, 
who  took  possession  of  a  town  with  the  aid  of 


r04  THE   CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

twenty-two  men,  defended  the  arsenal  so  long  as 
a  man  of  his  little  troop  was  left,  and,  covered 
with  wounds,  was  at  last  sentenced  to  be  hanged, 
his  execution  giving  a  tremendous  impetus  to  the 
question  then  pressing  upon  the  people.  "  Old 
John  Brown  "  was  in  every  mouth ;  Mrs.  Howe, 
changing  the  words,  turned  it  into  the  Battle 
Hymn.  And  when  I  asked  to  have  it  sung 
two  voices  chanted  it,  soon  accompanied  by  other 
voices,  —  all  present,  young  and  old,  joining  in 
the  chorus  with  deep  feeling;  for  there  were 
some  present  who  took  part  in  the  war,  others  who 
recalled  losses  dating  back  to  the  four  years  echo 
which  rang  with  this  warlike  hymn  mingled  with 
trumpet  blasts  and  the  noise  of  cannon.  Before  the 
last  verse  died  away,  —  that  verse  which  charges 
men  to  die  for  freedom,  as  Christ  died  for  them,  — 
I  saw  that  America  had  a  Marseillaise  suited  to  her 
temper  and  written  by  a  woman,  a  rival  of  Mrs. 
Beecher  Stowe.  Mrs.  Stowe,  hidden  in  a  country 
parsonage,  dealt  slavery  a  mortal  blow  when  she 
wrote  the  famous  book  whose  fame  spread  around 
the  world.  Mrs.  Howe,  in  her  turn,  flung  into 
the  heart  of  the  conflict  which  ensued,  a  solemn, 
sacred  song  which  has  ever  since  been  to  the 
victorious  North  a  national  anthem. 

My  surprise  was  great  when  I  afterwards  met 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  10$ 

the  author  of  the  Battle  Hymn.  I  expected  to 
see  an  old  woman,  —  the  date  of  her  birth,  1819, 
being  set  down  in  all  her  biographies,  —  I  know 
not  why  I  had  also  attributed  to  her  the  somewhat 
masculine  air  of  authority  common  to  many  strong 
minded  women.  I  saw  a  smile,  a  skin,  a  look, 
which  were  all  extraordinarily  youthful.  She 
dresses  without  the  least  eccentricity,  she  has 
simple  and  perfect  manners,  her  gentle  voice  is 
one  of  the  best  modulated  that  I  ever  heard.  If 
by  chance  Mrs.  Howe  had  chosen  to  preach 
subversive  doctrines,  she  would  have  been 
very  dangerous,  so  potent  are  the  tact  and 
charm  which  make  it  possible  for  her  to  dare 
anything.  I  greeted  her  in  her  kingdom,  the 
New  England  Woman's  Club,  over  which  she 
presides.  The  club  was  founded  twenty-five  years 
ago  to  afford  a  meeting  place  for  the  many  ladies 
who  live  in  the  suburbs  of  Boston  and  who  were 
called  to  Boston  on  business  of  any  kind;  this 
led  to  the  institution  of  a  weekly  meeting  at 
which  various  subjects  are  discussed:  art,  litera- 
ture, education,  etc.  These  exercises  assumed  a 
growing  importance  as  the  number  of  the  mem- 
bers grew;  often  speakers  from  outside  joined 
in  the  discussions. 

On  the  Monday  in  November  when  I  entered 


I06  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

the  spacious  and  comfortable  quarters  in  Park 
Street,  I  saw  nothing  to  suggest  the  idea  of 
pedantry  or  pretence.  I  might  have  imagined 
myself  at  a  reception  in  a  private  house;  there  was 
no  platform,  but  an  amply  furnished  tea-table. 
Not  nearly  all  of  the  two  hundred  and  thirty  mem- 
bers were,  present,  but  still  there  was  a  numerous 
company,  among  whom  was  one  man,  the  sole 
survivor  of  the  group  of  great  masculine  minds 
who  at  the  outset  were  allied  with  the  club  as 
honorary  members.  The  most  distinguished 
women  of  the  city  entered,  one  after  another,  and 
Mrs.  Howe  presented  them  to  the  foreign  visi- 
tors,—  Miss  Spence  and  myself.  Miss  Spence 
is  an  Australian  celebrity;  she  had  just  arrived 
from  her  native  land,  very  lively  and  very 
spirited,  with  an  air  both  rustic  and  intelli- 
gent, and  lectured  on  the  right  of  minor- 
ities. We  heard  her  talk  on  the  way  voting  is 
arranged  in  Australia.  But  Mrs.  Howe  chiefly 
drew  my  attention.  When  the  meeting  opened, 
the  woman  of  the  world  showed  herself  as  presi- 
dent. It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  describe 
the  quiet  assurance  or  the  polite  authority  of  the 
three  little  blows  struck  on  the  table  with  a 
mallet  to  request  silence.  Her  attitude  might 
be  envied  by  more   than   one  president  of  the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  10/ 

French  Chamber  of  Deputies.  She  answered 
Miss  Spence  with  the  most  brilliant  of  improvi- 
sations ;  then,  business  despatched,  she  returned 
to  her  cups  of  tea  and  her  introductions  with  the 
exquisite  grace  of  any  mistress  of  a  mansion. 

In  fact,  there  is  no  city  where  the  feminine 
element  is  better  represented  than  in  Boston. 
I  satisfied  myself  of  that  at  all  the  agreeable 
luncheons  which  followed,  now  at  Mrs.  Howe's 
house,  and  now  at  the  houses  of  other  members 
of  the  Woman's  Club.  No  gathering  of  women 
in  France  could  have  the  same  animation  or 
would  take  such  pains  to  be  agreeable.  The 
absence  of  men  would  make  French  women  feel 
as  a  young  Washington  girl  expressed  it,  —  as 
if  they  were  eating  bread  without  butter.  In 
Boston,  on  the  contrary,  a  select  set  take  pleas- 
ure in  what  they  call  —  treating  each  other  in 
sisterly  fashion  —  their  "magic  circle."  It  is  a 
great  honor  and  a  very  great  pleasure  for  a 
stranger  to  find  temporary  admission;  but  I 
must  repeat,  nothing  could  be  more  foreign  to 
French  habits.  Imagine  a  dozen  women  forcing 
themselves,  on  a  certain  day,  to  talk  another 
language  than  their  own  throughout  luncheon, 
lest  they  should  forget  that  language,  or  in  order 
that  they  might  perfect  themselves  in  it !     Some 


I08  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

heresies,  indeed,  slip  into  their  opinions  of 
French  matters.  One  of  them,  for  instance,  told 
me  that  Fr6miet's  Joan  of  Arc  was  the  finest  statue 
in  Paris;  another  considers  Maeterlinck,  all  whose 
works  she  has  read,  to  be  an  untutored  genius. 
Did  not  the  great  Margaret  Fuller  rank  Eugene 
Sue  very  close  to  Balzac?  A  passionate  admirer 
of  George  Sand,  she  thought  the  "Lettres  d'un 
Voyageur  "  tolerably  dull ;  she  thought  the  "  Sept 
Cordes  de  la  Lyre  "  far  superior;  and  one  of  her 
illustrious  friends  called  Alfred  De  Vigny  a 
boudoir  author,  judging  him  no  doubt  by  the  first 
pages  of  the  "Histoire  d'une  Puce  Enrag^e. " 
Assuredly,  we  too  often  commit  absurd  blunders 
in  our  criticisms  of  foreign  authors,  but  it  is 
always  comforting  to  learn  that  strangers  make 
as  many  and  as  grave  errors  in  regard  to  ours. 

Mrs.  Howe,  indeed,  does  not  differ  from  us 
in  her  point  of  view  as  much  as  do  many  of  her 
fellow-countrywomen.  She  shows  the  effects  of 
a  prolonged  sojourn  in  France,  of  her  relations 
with  eminent  Frenchmen;  and  she  recalls  all 
this  in  the  French  language,  with  which  she  is 
marvellously  familiar.  Study  and  reflection  have 
left  her  a  wholly  youthful  spontaneity,  seasoned 
with  sprightliness.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  her 
match  for  wit.     I  tried  to  lead  her  to  talk  of 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  IO9 

herself,  but  I  was  not  very  successful.  It  was 
from  others  that  I  learned  the  opposition  which 
her  early  literary  tastes  encountered.  Her  father 
—  a  father  of  the  old  school  —  did  not  allow  his 
daughters  to  make  themselves  singular;  in  fact 
it  was  not  for  some  years  after  her  marriage  that 
she  began  the  work  of  writing  "and  speaking, 
which  she  still  carries  on.  Julia  Ward  married 
Dr.  Howe,  the  man  who  did  most  to  promote 
the  education  of  deaf  mutes,  and  who  developed 
such  extraordinary  powers  in  the  famous  Laura 
Bridgman,  who  was  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind. 
Laura  Bridgman  has  now  a  rival,  Helen  Keller, 
taught  by  the  same  methods.  Dr.  Howe  devoted 
himself  with  equal  ardor  to  making  the  most  of 
the  feeblest  ray  of  comprehension  in  idiots.  I 
was  told  that  for  lack  of  time  by  day  he  formed 
an  evening  class  for  them,  declaring  that  their 
poor  brains  had  no  knowledge  of  time:  he  never 
thought  of  his  own  fatigue.  To  the  last  day  of 
his  life,  by  dint  of  scientific  and  humanitarian 
zeal,  he  wrought  true  miracles.  Mrs.  Howe, 
meantime,  followed  in  Margaret  Fuller's  foot- 
steps, working  in  the  cause  of  woman  with  the 
same  ardor  and  discretion.  We  might  say  of  her 
what  was  said  of  her  predecessor  and  friend,  that 
she  never  lent  herself  to  any  exaggeration;  that 


no  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

she  never  considered  woman  as  the  rival  or  the 
antagonist  of  man,  but  as  his  complement,  assum- 
ing that  the  advance  of  the  one  is  inseparable 
from  the  advance  of  the  other, 

I  heard  Mrs.  Howe  speak  one  morning,  as  a 
strong  but  independent  Christian,  in  a  Unitarian 
Church.  It  is  not  unusual  in  America  for  women 
to  preach;  there  are  hundreds  of  women  clergy. 
It  is  in  the  West  particularly  that  they  exercise 
their  ministry;  and  it  seems  that  the  parishes 
of  these  ladies  are  by  no  means  the  least  well 
governed.  Even  in  Boston,  where  the  official 
care  of  souls  is  wholly  in  the  hands  of  men, 
women  are  admitted  to  a  certain  collaboration 
in  some  churches,  or  at  least  in  their  vestries. 
The  vestry  where  Mrs.  Howe,  with  her  silvery 
and  penetrating  voice,  spoke  eloquently  of  things 
both  divine  and  practical,  was  that  of  the  Church 
of  the  Disciples.  She  spoke  of  personal  religion, 
showing  the  utility  of  family  worship,  the  good 
sides  of  certain  observances  whose  necessity  had 
long  seemed  to  her  doubtful,  but  to  which  she 
now  does  full  justice.  Never  was  absolute 
loyalty  expressed  in  a  more  touching  way.  Mrs. 
Howe  strove  to  prove  that  even  those  of  us  who 
thought  ourselves  stripped  of  the  good  things  of 
this  world  have  endless  cause  for  gratitude  to 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  Ill 

God,  were  it  only  for  His  Son,  for  the  free  gift 
of  certain  affections,  and  first  of  all  for  that  of 
intelligence. 

After  Mrs.  Howe,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  C. 
G.  Ames,  pastor  of  the  church  where  we  were 
gathered,  spoke  with  singular  ease  and  power. 
She  took  up  in  detail  the  subject  of  the  gratitude 
which  we  owe  not  only  to  God  but  to  our  neigh- 
bor. Do  we  think  enough  of  what  we  should  be 
if  those  whom  we  call  the  lowly,  the  humble, 
and  the  ignorant  did  not  help  us  to  bear  the 
burden  of  the  physical  tasks  which  fall  to  our 
daily  lot  ?  And  the  speaker  numbered  our  obliga- 
tions to  servants  and  tradesmen,  the  living  wheels 
in  the  machinery  of  existence,  with  whom  we 
think,  very  unjustly,  that  we  are  quits  when 
we  have  paid  their  wages.  I  already  knew 
Mrs.  Ames  through  the  excellent  statistics  show- 
ing the  state  of  every  sort  of  female  labor  in 
Massachusetts.  She  is  the  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee devoted  exclusively  to  these  questions. 

Young  mothers  then  rose,  and  asked  and 
answered  questions  in  regard  to  the  religious 
education  of  their  children,  to  their  devotional 
habits  at  home,  to  books  of  familiar  morals 
classed  under  the  head  of  "little  helps."  There 
was  an   exchange  of  profitable  experiences.     It 


112  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

seemed  to  me  that  this  must  have  been  the  fashion 
of  the  meetings  of  the  first  Christians,  the  more 
so  that  after  the  speeches  and  the  hymns  there 
were  love-feasts,  —  love-feasts  of  American  style. 
Tea  was  served  in  one  of  the  aisles  of  the  vestry, 
and  Mrs,  Ames  laughingly  asked  me  if  I  was  not 
shocked  to  see  that  the  church  was  connected 
with  a  kitchen.  I  at  once  replied  that  I  had  seen 
more  than  that  in  the  West,  where  the  church, 
which  is  still  the  meeting-house,  is  often  chosen 
as  the  scene  of  meetings  which  are  of  no  religious 
nature.  I  added  that  a  lady  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  observing  my  surprise,  said,  like  a  good 
Puritan,  "  Nothing  can  be  out  of  place  in  a  church 
but  dissipation ;  and  dissipation  is  out  of  place 
everywhere." 

The  last  time  that  I  met  Mrs.  Howe  was  shortly 
before  the  success  of  the  Municipal  Woman  Suf- 
frage Bill  which  had  passed  to  its  third  reading  in 
the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  by 
a  majority  of  II.  She  regarded  this  as  prophetic 
of  its  adoption  by  the  State  legislature,  and  she 
was  that  day  to  demand,  at  some  public  meeting, 
the  unrestricted  right  for  the  women  of  her  country 
to  vote,  basing  her  demand  on  the  excellent  reason 
that  they  have  long  been  prepared  for  it. 

Mrs.    Howe    shows    the   same   serene   calm   in 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  II3 

making  claims  of  this  kind  that  she  does  when 
she  sets  forth  in  church  her  theories  of  practical  and 
individual  Christianity.  Whatever  theme  she  takes 
up,  she  is  always  temperate,  showing  no  excitement, 
although  a  flame  burns  in  her  blue  eyes  which 
are  still  so  youthful.  Since  Lucy  Stone's  death, 
her  importance  as  a  leader  seems  to  be  still  greater. 
We  know  that  Lucy  Stone  was  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  "  Association  for  the 
Suffrage  of  American  Women,"  an  association 
founded  by  her  in  1869,  with  the  aid  of  W.  L.  Gar- 
rison, G.  W.  Curtis,  Colonel  Higginson,  Mrs.  Liver- 
more,  and  Mrs.  Howe  herself. 

The  curious  history  of  this  feminine  pioneer  is 
well  worth  writing.  As  a  mere  child,  she  resolved 
to  go  to  college  to  learn  Greek  and  Hebrew,  that 
she  might  study  the  Bible  in  the  original,  and 
find  out  whether  the  words  which  shocked  her: 
"  Thy  desire  shall  be  for  thy  husband,  and  he  shall 
rule  over  thee,"  were  really  in  the  text.  She  paid 
her  way  by  manual  labor,  doing  her  own  cooking, 
and  paying  but  fifty  cents  a  week  for  her  room. 
On  leaving  Oberlin  college,  she  devoted  herself  to 
teaching  slaves  escaped  from  their  masters,  and  in 
1847  she  began  her  famous  lectures  on  woman's 
rights,  putting  up  her  posters  with  her  own  hands, 
braving  mockery  and  danger  of  every  sort,  stirring 

8 


114  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

crowds  by  her  eloquence  and  the  strange  magnet- 
ism which  seemed  to  proceed  from  her.  Although 
married  to  Henry  Blackwell,  himself  a  partisan 
of  woman's  rights  and  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
she  never  bore  her  husband's  name.  Blackwell 
approved  her  course;  he  joined  his  protest  to  hers 
against  the  iniquity  of  the  law  which  grants  the 
husband  supreme  authority  over  the  person,  pro- 
perty and  children  of  his  wife.  Moreover,  they 
were  for  forty  years  the  model  of  happy  couples. 

The  bust  of  Lucy  Stone,  by  Anne  Whitney,  at 
the  Chicago  Exhibition,  gives  the  idea  of  perfect 
and  sympathetic  simplicity.  When  she  died  in 
Boston,  last  October,  her  funeral,  which  took 
place  at  the  Unitarian  Church  of  the  Disciples, 
seemed  like  a  triumph.  More  than  eleven  hun- 
dred people  assembled,  and  the  services  were 
accompanied  by  striking  manifestations.  The  Suf- 
frage colors  —  yellow  and  white  — were  represented 
by  mounds  of  roses  and  chrysanthemums.  Another 
woman  who  played  an  active  part  in  the  crusade 
against  slavery,  Mrs.  Edna  Dean  Cheney,  whom 
I  had  the  honor  to  meet  at  Mrs.  Howe's  house, 
spoke  of  Lucy  Stone  better  than  any  one  else, 
contrasting  her  with  two  or  three  persons  whose 
names  always  come  up  in  Europe  whenever  Ameri- 
can Suffragists  are  mentioned.     Mrs.  Cheney,  too, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  11$ 

has  been  an  ardent  apostle  of  the  emancipation  of 
women;  but  her  energy  now  seems  to  be  cen- 
tred in  the  admirable  New  England  Hospital  for 
women  and  children,  where  all  the  doctors  are 
women.  Mrs.  Cheney  is  at  the  head  of  the  board 
of  council,  and  is  one  of  the  directors. 

We  know  that  the  first  Medical  School  for  women 
was  opened  in  Boston  in  1848.  At  that  time  there 
was  no  other  in  the  world ;  now  it  is  incorporated 
with  the  medical  faculty  of  the  Boston  University. 
The  city  of  Boston  now  has  thirty-nine  allopathic 
and  forty-one  homoeopathic  women  doctors,  be- 
sides eighty-nine  practising  without  a  diploma ;  for 
Massachusetts  has  no  law  in  regard  to  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine.  We  shall  meet  with  these  irregular 
practitioners  elsewhere. 

MISS  ANNA  TICKNOR.  —  SOCIETY  FOR  THE  EN- 
COURAGEMENT OF  STUDY  AT  HOME.  —  PUBLIC 
LIBRARIES. 

Miss  Ticknor  represents  a  very  original  work, 
which  she  was  the  first  to  undertake,  and  which 
has  quietly  achieved  almost  incalculable  results. 
I  mean  the  society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Study 
at  Home.  She  took  the  first  idea  of  this  society 
from  England,  where  clever  minds  had  hit  upon 


Il6  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

a  great  truth ;  namely,  that  work  is  the  most  essen- 
tial element  of  happiness,  and  that  those  who  do 
not  have  to  work  for  a  living,  and  are  incapable 
of  finding  some  absorbing  occupation,  are  quite 
as  much  to  be  pitied  as  if  they  were  poor.  At 
first,  she  only  intended  to  guide  by  correspondence 
young  girls  who  had  just  left  school,  and  so  to 
help  them  to  continue  their  intellectual  life,  which 
is  too  often  quickly  abandoned.  Then  her  idea 
broadened.  "  It  seemed  to  me,"  she  says,  "  that 
we  might  succeed  in  adding  to  the  fundamental 
value  of  home  for  all  women,  even  the  humblest, 
by  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  think ;  by 
familiarizing  them  with  the  conceptions  of  great 
minds  which  should  keep  them  company  while 
their  hands  are  busy  with  their  daily  tasks.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  it  would  be  well  for  such  women 
to  open  their  eyes  to  the  wonders  of  Nature  in 
the  most  remote  and  desert  country  regions,  and 
to  appreciate  art,  if  by  chance  they  should  encoun- 
ter it." 

In  1873,  six  ladies  pledged  themselves  to  corre- 
spond with  forty-five  persons  who  were  then  en- 
tered as  students.  Now  one  hundred  and  ninety 
lady  teachers  are  in  friendly  relations  with  four 
hundred  and  twenty-three  students ;  to  say  nothing 
of  forty-six  clubs,  represented  by  a  single  name, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  II7 

behind  which  is  a  numerous  group  who  have  com- 
bined for  reasons  of  economy,  to  which  is  added 
the  pleasure  of  working  in  company.  Each  pupil 
is  treated  according  to  her  special  requirements, 
although  a  uniform  rule  is  followed,  —  her  cor- 
respondent belonging  to  one  section  or  another  of 
one  of  the  six  departments  which  make  up  the 
round  of  studies,  each  of  which  has  a  head.  The 
work  consists  of  reading  and  making  notes  ;  the 
result  is  shown  by  a  monthly  correspondence  in- 
cluding frequent  examinations.  A  small  annual 
fee,  to  pay  office  expenses  and  postage,  provides 
for  the  circulation  of  some  two  thousand  volumes. 
Usually  but  one  subject,  two  at  the  utmost,  are 
taken  up,  the  intelligent  directors  of  the  work 
having  a  peculiar  dread  of  that  superficial  and 
indiscriminate  culture  which  is  a  common  defect 
in  America.  Each  student  chooses  one  of  six 
departments.  History  is  divided  into  five  sections  ; 
the  section  of  ancient  history  includes  classic  litera- 
ture, and  even  Greek  and  Latin  authors,  the  neces- 
sary aid  being  given,  if  desired,  for  the  study  of 
those  languages.  Political  economy  does  not 
exclude  the  theory  and  history  of  philanthropy. 
Science  includes  all  its  branches,  embracing 
hygiene,  which  explains  why  so  many  American 
women  are  so  learned   in  regard  to  questions  of 


Il8  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

drainage,  heating,  lighting,  and  ventilation.  In  the 
natural  sciences,  the  methods  of  Professor  Agassiz 
are  used  :  the  pupils  study  specimens,  not  books. 
Herbals,  collections  of  all  sorts,  are  sent  from  one 
to  another;  as  are  portfolios  of  photographs  and 
engravings,  for  those  students  who  choose  the 
third  course,  — that  of  the  fine  arts.  In  connection 
with  the  course  in  art,  there  is  a  section  for  imagi- 
nary travels  in  Europe,  which  in  that  land  of  pre- 
eminent activity  is  a  delight  to  all  women  too  poor 
or  too  ill  to  travel  in  reality.  The  fourth  depart- 
ment is  devoted  to  German ;  the  fifth  to  the  study 
in  French,  of  French  history  and  literature ;  the 
sixth  to  English  literature,  the  section  of  rhetoric 
having  a  long  list  of  pupils,  whose  compositions 
are  carefully  read  and  corrected. 

May  I  be  permitted,  while  admiring  the  rest,  to 
express  the  wish  that  the  French  library  may  be 
enlarged  ?  Our  great  writers  are  scarcely  repre- 
sented save  by  fragments  and  through  the  criticisms 
of  English  authors.  Sainte-Beuve  is  the  only  one 
who  is  complete;  still,  I  found  to  my  great  plea- 
sure a  few  volumes  of  Bossuet,  Racine,  and  La 
Bruy^re.  In  America  our  seventeenth  century 
is  despised.  It  would  be  a  patriotic  work,  it  seems 
to  me,  to  send  a  good  collection  of  unexpurgated 
French  classics  to  the  Library  of  the  Studies  at 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES.  II9 

Home.  An  intellectual  fellowship  which  would 
redound  to  our  glory  would  thus  add  to  the 
good  already  accomplished  by  this  Society,  which 
achieves  such  manifold  results. 

The  developement  of  taste  extends  to  every 
detail  of  life.  Mothers  are  prepared  to  play  the 
part  of  teachers;  and  for  the  many  daughters  who 
do  not  marry,  what  a  precious  resource  it  must 
be  !  I  remember  the  happy  face  of  a  certain  elderly 
spinster  whom  I  met  in  a  cold  village  of  that  New 
England  whose  long  winters  must  bring  unspeak- 
able boredom  to  those  who  have  no  absorbing 
occupations.  She  lived  for  that  correspondence 
which  connected  her  with  the  world,  with  the  best 
that  the  world  can  offer.  Without  leaving  her 
fireside,  she  travelled ;  she  kept  herself  well  in- 
formed ;  she  satisfied  that  intellectual  hunger  which 
is  as  urgent  with  some  as  physical  hunger.  And 
I  could  not  help  wishing  that  some  of  the  idle,  dis- 
contented women  in  French  provincial  towns  could 
have  the  same  resource.  All  social  conditions  are 
represented  among  the  students ;  one  of  them 
wrote  from  afar  these  touching  words :  "  At  night, 
when  I  have  copied  my  lesson  and  hung  it  on  my 
kitchen  wall,  I  find  it  no  longer  tires  me  to  wash 
up  the  dishes." 

Many  of  these  correspondences  go  on  for  ten. 


I20  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

twelve,  and  even  eighteen  years.  Friendship  often 
follows  between  the  women  thus  brought  together. 
Some  scholars  rise  to  the  rank  of  teachers;  they 
are  mutually  helpful.  Thus  a  poor  deaf  mute, 
destitute  of  almost  everything,  proved  herself  a 
skilful  botanist,  and  found  a  lucrative  position 
suited  to  her  bent.  Other  societies  have  been 
formed  in  various  parts  of  America  in  imitation  of 
this  one,  of  which  Miss  Anna  Ticknor  is  the  active 
manager.  The  most  extraordinary  manifestation  of 
the  kind  is  the  popular  movement  at  Chautauqua ; 
but  that  is  one  of  the  vast  and  rough-hewn  schemes 
of  the  West,  and  the  eminently  Bostonian  drawing- 
room  in  Marlboro'  Street  is  no  place  to  discuss  it. 
The  chief  ornament  of  the  parlor  is  a  portrait  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott  by  Leslie,  who  painted  it  expressly 
for  Miss  Ticknor's  father,  the  well-known  author 
of  an  excellent  History  of  Spanish  Literature. 
Having  visited  Europe,  he  greatly  pleased  Walter 
Scott,  who  at  his  request  sat  for  this  admirable 
work,  of  which  England  possesses  merely  a  minia- 
ture copy. 

I  had  instructive  talks  with  Miss  Ticknor.  It 
is  not  in  vain  that  one  is  the  heiress  of  a  race  of 
scholars,  the  daughter  of  that  Professor  Ticknor 
who,  the  owner  of  a  fine  collection  of  books,  by 
lending  them  freely,  practised  the  rarest  sort  of 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  121 

charity  for  a  book-lover.  She  was  thus  able  to 
procure  for  me  many  details  in  regard  to  an  inter- 
esting subject,  that  of  free  public  libraries.  There 
are  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  cities  in  the  State 
of  Massachusetts,  and  three  hundred  have  a  free 
library,  —  that  is,  one  permitting  books  to  be  taken 
out  by  citizens  of  the  town ;  and  there  are  almost 
two  hundred  women  librarians,  and  many  more 
women  assistants.  Almost  all  these  libraries  were 
established  by  private  efforts,  although  now  the 
government  grants  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  small 
towns  in  arrears.  Special  gifts  of  money,  not  to 
mention  books,  exceed  five  million  dollars.  And 
these  free  libraries  not  only  help  to  diffuse  learning, 
they  annually  collect  all  documents  relating  to  the 
city,  —  genealogies,  family  annals,  publications  of 
every  description  appertaining  to  the  social,  moral, 
political,  or  economic  growth  of  the  population. 

Of  course  the  great  Boston  Public  Library  is  the 
crown  and  capstone  of  the  system,  and  a  model  for 
the  whole  United  States.  Strange  to  say,  it  has 
grown  up  about  some  books  sent  from  Paris  in 
1 840,  and  given  by  a  Frenchman  named  Vattemare. 
A  decided  impulse  to  its  growth  was  imparted  by 
George  Ticknor.  It  is  now  the  most  important 
free  public  library  in  the  world;  it  has  almost. two 
miUion  volumes  in  circulation,  and  is  soon  to  be 


122  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

transferred  to  the  worthy  monument  now  almost 
finished  in  Boston's  principal  square,  —  Copley 
Square, — close  beside  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts, 
and  opposite  Trinity  Church,  that  masterpiece 
by  Richardson,  adorned  with  superb  windows 
by  La  Farge,  Burne  Jones,  and  William  Morris. 

Mrs,  J.  T.  Fields.  — Drawing-Rooms  and 

Interiors. 

After  what  I  have  said  of  the  resources  of  Boston 
society,  to  which  the  University  town  of  Cambridge 
lends  efficient  aid,  my  readers  must  have  reasoned 
correctly  that  in  that  city  of  old  European  traditions 
there  must  be  interesting  drawing-rooms.  I  would 
fain  describe  the  one  which,  from  many  points  of 
view,  most  resembles  the  drawing-rooms  of  France 
at  its  best, — the  drawing-room  of  Mrs.  J.  T.  Fields. 
To  speak  of  Mrs.  Howe,  Mrs.  Agassiz,  Miss  Ticknor, 
and  Mrs.  Fields  is  to  speak  of  the  social  movement, 
—  of  culture,  pedagogy,  poetry,  and  philanthropy 
in  Boston.  They  are  the  representatives  of  these 
things,  and  as  such  they  must  accept  the  publicity 
which  clings  to  their  personality,  I  therefore  hope 
that  I  may  not  be  reproached  with  indiscretion  if 
I  introduce  the  French  public  to  a  registry  office 
for  wits  of  the  most  refined  originality,  —  a  house 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  123 

unique  in  its  way.  Everything  in  it  seems  to  be 
dedicated  to  literature.  This  is  not  surprising,  Mrs. 
Annie  Fields  being  the  widow  of  the  well-known 
publisher,  James  T.  Fields,  who  was  the  friend  of 
the  most  famous  writers  of  his  time  in  France  and 
England,  and  who  left  behind  him  precious  proofs 
of  his  intimacy  with  them  all,  — biographical  notes, 
sketches,  letters,  conversations.^  Their  portraits 
cover  the  walls  of  this  little  temple  of  memory, 
where  a  woman  of  the  utmost  distinction  carefully 
.preserves  all  which  represents  to  her  a  past  of 
pure  intellectual  happiness.  The  riches  of  the 
library,  which  invade  two  floors  of  her  small 
but  delightful  home,  may  be  numbered,  with  an 
almost  endless  collection  of  autographs,  among 
the  treasures  of  which  she  is  justly  proud.  As 
for  her  own  works,  she  often  shows  excessive 
modesty  in  concealing  them.  These  occasional 
works,  which  are  like  a  rare  embroidery  on  the 
woof  of  the  charitable  tasks  to  which  she  is  par- 
ticularly devoted,  lead  Mrs.  Fields  by  preference 
towards  Greek  antiquity.  Indeed,  we  might  note 
some  curious  analogies  between  the  bent  of  her 
talent  and  the  character  of  her  beauty,  which 
years  have  merely  spiritualized  without  destroying. 

^  Biographical  Notes  and  Personal  Sketches.    Yesterdays  with 
authors. 


124  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

This  Athenian  of  Boston  lives  in  the  company 
of  Sophocles  and  Eschylus,  translates  the  Pandora 
of  Goethe,  that  other  Greek  of  Northern  climes; 
and  the  "Centaur"  by  Maurice  de  Guerin,  who 
also  partook  in  France  of  Attic  honey ;  and 
she  will  figure  on  her  own  account  in  future 
anthologies,  were  it  only  for  her  poem  of  *'  Theo- 
critus," ^  to  say  nothing  of  the  recollections  of  her 
dead  friends  which  she  writes.  Thus,  last  year, 
she  published  an  animated  and  charming  biography 
of  Whittier,  the  Quaker  poet.  Prose  and  verse 
seem  to  be  carelessly  flung  off  by  Annie  Fields, 
when  the  inspiration  seizes  her,  upon  loose  leaves 
covering  the  desk  in  the  tiny  study,  which  is 
wholly  unpretending,  and  is  only  divided  by  a 
curtain  from  the  parlor  where  so  many  illustrious 
writers  have  been  seated,  and  where  such  brilliant 
converse  has  been  held  with  friends  like  Haw- 
thorne, Emerson,  Longfellow,  and  Holmes. 

The  latter,  old  in  years,  but  not  in  spirit,  till 
very  recently  survived  the  elect  group  to  which 
he  belonged.  His  visits  were  always  considered 
a  genuine  treat.  He  brought  with  him  the  lively 
sallies,  the  amusing  digressions,  which  abound  in 
those  essays  so  ingeniously  brought  together  in  the 
Autocrat,  the  Professor,  and  the  Poet  at  the  Break- 
1  Under  The  Olive. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  12$ 

fast  Table.  Paris  was  ever  present  to  him  through 
the  charm  of  his  youthful  years;  he  talked  of  it 
with  as  much  gayety  as  if  he  were  still  a  medical 
student  in  the  Latin  Quarter.  It  was  a  pleasure 
to  find  in  the  vivid  and  brilliant  little  person  of 
that  amazing  old  man  a  combination  of  the  perfect 
gentleman  of  Old  England  with  those  qualities  of 
animation,  sympathy,  wholly  cosmopolitan  com- 
prehension of  things,  and  a  wealth  of  amiability 
which,  we  must  admit,  belong  far  more  to  New 
England.  The  existence  of  Dr.  Holmes  must 
have  been  both  enviable  and  fatiguing.  He  was 
at  the  same  time  venerated  like  a  grandfather,  and 
treated  like  a  spoiled  child.  Hospitable  dames 
contended  for  his  presence.  Passing  strangers 
requested  permission  to  call  on  him,  owners  of 
autograph  albums,  whose  name  is  legion,  begged 
for  a  sentiment  or  a  sonnet  in  his  beautiful,  dis- 
tinct handwriting.  At  every  public  ceremony  a 
speech  was  expected  from  him;  at  every  ban- 
quet he  was  requested  to  offer  a  toast ;  and  ladies 
combined  to  send  him  exquisite  symbolic  gifts,  to 
which  he  could  only  reply  by  invoking  at  any  cost 
the  Muse  of  his  best  days  to  answer  in  a  fashion 
no  less  exquisite.  This  was  putting  the  powers 
of  an  octogenarian  to  a  rude  test;  but  he  did  not 
seem  to  suffer  from  it,  and  gallantly  quaffed  the 


126  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

nectar  of  adulation  poured  into  the  loving  cup,  in 
the  bottom  of  which  are  engraved  the  names  of  his 
fair  and  learned  friends. 

Miss  Sarah  Jewett,  whose  life  is  divided  between 
the  Maine  village  which  she  has  made  immortal, 
in  tales  which  emanate  from  the  very  soil  itself, 
and  Boston  which  claims  her  as  its  own,  is  almost 
always  present  at  Mrs.  Fields's  Saturday  afternoon 
receptions. 

There  too  I  met  T.  B.  Aldrich,  best  known  in 
France  as  a  novelist,  through  the  translations 
which  have  appeared  in  the  "  Revue  des  Deux 
Mondes,"  but  whose  poetic  work  —  which  has 
won  him  a  place  apart  in  the  loftiest  regions  of 
the  American  Parnassus  —  is  as  inaccessible  to 
translation  as  Gautier's  "  ifimaux  et  Cam^es  "  could 
possibly  be.  And  he  excels  not  only  in  carv- 
ing on  hard  stone,  with  singular  technical  skill, 
some  tiny  poem,  perfect  in  all  its  parts,  like  his 
"  Intaglio  of  a  Head  of  Minerva,"  which  the 
most  experienced  artists  of  the  Old  World  might 
envy  him.  No  one  has  so  strong  a  feeling  for 
Nature  as  he,  that  American  Nature  which  is  so 
unlike  any  other.  Dr.  Holmes  was  quite  right 
to  say,  "  You  may  search  elsewhere  in  vain  for  a 
Boston  sunset."  American  skies  have  nothing 
in  common  with  those  of  Europe;    birds,  rocks, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  12/ 

earth,  trees,  grass,  all  are  different.  Well,  though 
he  has  travelled  so  far,  it  is  yet  to  the  New  Eng- 
land spring,  to  the  rivers  decked  with  Indian 
names,  to  the  snows,  the  rains,  the  twilights  of 
Boston  that  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich  owes  his  truest 
and  best  inspirations.  Perhaps  his  flights  are  some- 
what short:  we  should  not  complain  of  this;  the 
brevity  of  his  pieces  is  a  warrant  of  perfection. 
Neither  should  we  regret  that  the  elegance  and 
ease  of  his  existence  have  limited  the  possibility 
of  his  effort;  if  fruitful  poverty  had  borne  him 
company,  he  might  never  have  written  that  en- 
chanting and  humorously  melancholy  piece,  "  The 
Flight  of  The  Goddess." 

Cambridge  sends  to  Mrs,  Fields's  parlors,  with 
young  and  brilliant  professors,  one  of  the  notabili- 
ties of  the  academic  town,  whose  name  has  crossed 
the  seas,  —  he  who  was  first  the  Reverend,  then 
Colonel,  Wentworth  Higginson.  Madame  de  Gas- 
parin  once  translated  his  "  Military  Life  in  a  Black 
Regiment,"  and  his  "  History  of  the  United  States 
for  Young  People  "  is  popular  in  France.  Possibly 
the  nations  of  conventional  old  Europe  are  less 
able  to  understand  some  of  the  ideas  which  he 
expresses  under  the  title  "  Common  Sense  about 
Women ;  "  and  Colonel  Higginson  would  be  the 
last  to  wonder  at  this,  fully  aware  as  he  is  of  the 


128  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

lamentable  situation  of  woman  in  countries  where 
the  Salic  law  flourishes,  where  the  masculine  sex 
is  still  called  the  "  noble  sex."  His  advice  in  re- 
gard to  progress  in  the  condition  of  woman  is  this : 
"  Let  us  first  remove  all  artificial  restrictions ;  it 
will  then  be  easy,  for  men  as  well  as  women,  to 
acquiesce  in  the  natural  limits  imposed." 

In  the  drawing-room  to  which  I  have  introduced 
you,  —  a  green  drawing-room,  long  and  narrow, 
with  windows  at  either  end,  and  a  matchless  view 
over  the  Charles  River,  —  a  wood  fire,  such  as  we 
have  in  France,  burns  on  the  hearth,  but  does  not 
prevent  the  gentle  warmth  of  a  furnace,  which  per- 
mits of  the  absence  of  doors,  for  which  drawn 
curtains  are  substituted,  so  that  visitors  pass  in 
quietly  and  unceremoniously  from  the  staircase, 
which  is  in  full  sight,  taking  their  place  at  once 
in  the  conversation.  Busts  and  portraits  of  famous 
friends  seem  to  form  a  part  of  the  circle,  —  Words- 
worth, the  Brownings ;  Miss  Mitford,  with  her  fresh 
bright  face,  the  face  of  an  elderly  English  spin- 
ster; Charles  Dickens,  painted  by  Alexander  in 
his  youth  with  long  hair  and  a  coat  of  feminine 
cut,  which  make  him  look  like  George  Sand.  Mr. 
Fields  and  his  wife  visited  Europe  more  than  once. 
Thackeray  as  well  as  Dickens  was  their  guest  in 
Boston :  here  is  his  friendly  face,  with  its  flat  fea- 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 29 

tures  and  his  broad  shoulders.  Often  an  autograph 
letter  is  framed  with  the  picture ;  this  is  the  case 
with  Mrs.  Cameron's  marvellous  photograph  of 
Carlyle,  with  its  intense,  pathetic  expression.  Em- 
erson thoroughly  realizes  in  his  appearance  the  idea 
of  immateriality  which  I  had  formed  of  him.  Mrs. 
Fields  tells  me  a  pretty  story  of  him.  In  his  later 
life,  he  was  seized  with  a  violent  fit  of  curiosity; 
he  wanted  to  know  for  once  what  rum  was,  and 
he  went  to  the  tavern  to  ask  for  it  "  Would  you 
like  a  glass  of  water,  Mr.  Emerson?"  said  the 
barkeeper,  without  giving  him  time  to  express 
his  guilty  desire;  and  the  philosopher  drank  his 
glass  of  water  —  and  died  without  knowing  the 
taste  of  rum. 

Hawthorne,  on  the  contrary,  is  superbly  hand- 
some, a  substantial  beauty,  moustachioed  and 
long-haired,  which  somewhat  disconcerts  us  on 
the  part  of  that  sharp  analyst  of  spiritually  morbid 
and  almost  intangible  things,  Longfellow  has  the 
head  of  a  mild  Jupiter;  Lowell  has  the  face  of  an 
English  aristocrat.  Portraits  of  Dickens  at  various 
ages,  and  as  utterly  unlike  as  possible,  hang  in 
all  directions.  Mrs.  Fields  gives  us  most  curious 
accounts  of  his  readings  in  America,  where  he 
was  immensely  successful.  The  description  of  a 
huge  gold  chain  which  he  fastened  to  his  watch  to 

g 


I30  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

hypnotize  the  attention  of  his  hearers,  went  further 
than  anything  else  to  show  me  a  certain  vein  of 
quackery  which  was  combined  with  the  novelist's 
undeniable  talent ;  but  I  kept  my  opinion  to  myself, 
for  it  would  not  be  well  to  meddle  with  the  idols 
in  the  sanctuary  which  is  sacred  to  them. 

Having  spoken  of  Mrs.  Fields's  drawing-room,  it 
is  hard  to  mention  any  other,  although  there  are 
many  houses  in  Boston  where  good  talkers  may 
be  found,  and  hospitality  (that  common  virtue  in 
America)  is  nowhere  more  gracefully  practised. 
I  will  merely  allude  to  the  effect  of  intellectual 
culture,  carried  to  its  utmost,  upon  the  insides  of 
houses,  their  furnishing  and  decoration.  A  sober 
elegance  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  that  society 
which  desires  to  show  refinement  in  everything. 
The  splendors  of  luxury  are  certainly  not  foreign 
to  it;  but  their  lustre  is  tempered,  subdued  as 
it  were  by  good  taste,  as  is  not  always  the  case 
elsewhere.  For  instance,  I  might  mention  one 
specially  wealthy  home  which  might  easily  have 
resembled  some  gorgeous  curiosity  shop  or  some 
showy  museum  of  decorative  art.  It  was  the  height 
of  tact  to  avoid  this  rock,  so  to  arrange  that  there 
is  not  too  much  of  anything.  From  the  altar 
screens  taken  from  Italian  churches  to  the  French 
eighteenth-century   trinkets   and    toys,   from    the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  13I 

masterpieces  of  French  and  German  painting  to 
the  portrait  of  the  mistress  of  the  house  (the  finest 
ever  painted  by  Sargent),  everything  is  in  its 
place,  —  everything,  even  a  flag  which  belonged 
to  the  grenadiers  of  Napoleon's  guard,  which 
seems  to  recount  the  glories  of  the  French  army 
to  the  corner  of  a  renaissance  mantelpiece.  There 
is  no  crowding,  no  confusion,  no  show  ;  a  masterly 
harmony  pervades  the  whole;  it  is  simply  the 
exquisite  setting  for  a  charming  woman.  Other 
houses,  —  for  instance,  the  one  containing  a  fine 
collection  of  paintings  by  the  great  colorist 
William  Hunt,  —  would  appear  to  advantage  in 
the  Faubourg  St.  Germain  and  are  the  homes  of 
stately  dowagers,  who  would  be  by  no  means 
out  of  place  there. 

This  irreproachable  taste  seems  to  extend  to 
diet  in  a  way  which  justifies  the  theories  of  Bril- 
lat-Savarin.  In  America  there  is  plenty  of  poor 
cooking  even  in  very  rich  houses,  where  the  prin- 
cipal desire  seems  to  have  been  to  match  the  color 
of  the  ices  and  the  sauces  to  the  color  of  the  china 
and  the  be-ribboned  flowers  which  cover  the  table; 
but  in  Boston  the  pursuit  of  outward  elegance  in 
no  way  impairs  the  excellence  of  the  substantial 
part.  There  are,  of  course,  certain  things  which 
astonish  a  foreigner,  —  the  early  breakfast  of  solid 


132  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

meats  ;  the  grape-fruit,  that  huge,  juicy  Florida 
orange,  served  as  a  first  course;  the  abuse  of  ice- 
water  ;  heresies  in  the  matter  of  wines.  Still,  we 
may  say  that  the  bill  of  fare  on  Boston  tables  shows 
that  the  mistresses  of  the  houses  have  travelled 
much,  and  have  brought  back  the  best  receipts 
from  every  country  in  Europe,  grafting  them  upon 
native  dishes  which  have  their  merits,  like  baked 
beans,  —  to  mention  only  that  very  simple  dish, 
which  is  as  difficult  of  imitation  as  is  the  no  less 
simple  Creole  way  of  cooking  rice. 

The  Island. — Almshouses. — Tenement-Housep. 
— Boys'  Brigades. — Associated  Charities. 

The  charitable  organizations  of  Boston  are  almost 
numberless ;  and  during  the  first  weeks  of  my 
stay  in  that  city  I  attributed  the  seeming  suppres- 
sion of  pauperism  to  their  wonderful  activity. 
"And  yet,"  I  said  to  one  of  the  women  who 
devote  their  lives  most  eagerly  to  benevolent 
works,  "  you  only  help  those  who  deserve  it  by 
helping  themselves.  What  becomes  of  the  others, 
—  those  who  refuse  to  work,  the  waifs  and  strays 
of  all  degrees  in  the  social  scale,  who  evade  the 
observance  of  any  rule?  There  are  beggars  in 
every  great  city.  What  do  you  do  with  that  class 
of  people?"  she  replied:  "They  are  sent  to  the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 33 

Island."  And  she  quoted  the  words  of  an  eminent 
professor  who  has  established  ethical  precepts  for 
social  progress :  "  A  certain  part  of  the  population 
can  never  be  called  free,  in  the  sense  that  the  edu- 
cation of  poor  children  should  be,  in  spite  of  the 
parents  if  need  be,  directed  by  society  in  a  pro- 
gressive fashion,  and  that  that  same  society  has 
the  right  to  enslave  all  those  who  wilfully  choose 
a  vagabond  life.  The  time  has  passed  when  kindly 
souls  gave  the  tramp  food  and  shelter.  Every 
tramp  in  a  civilized  country  should  be  arrested 
and  compelled  to  work  under  public  guidance." 

Thus  then  is  purchased,  to  the  detriment  of 
personal  independence  and  caprice,  what  the  best 
and  most  intelligent  citizens  of  a  republic  call 
universal  liberty.  It  is  instructive  to  consider  this. 
May  we,  however,  in  spite  of  social  progress,  never 
attain  to  this  degree  of  severity;  may  we  always 
permit  beggars  to  find  refuge  on  our  church  steps, 
in  memory  of  the  beautiful  Christian  legends  of 
poverty.  A  church  which  does  not  freely  admit 
the  ragged  poor  to  pray  side  by  side  with  the 
rich,  could  never  in  our  eyes  be  wholly  the  house 
of  the  Lord.  In  America,  Protestants  and  Catho- 
lics alike  told  me  that  the  decent  and  respectable 
poor  could  readily  obtain  proper  clothes  to  wear 
to  church ;  but  are  those  who  are  not  "  respecta- 


134  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

ble "  forbidden  to  pray,  or  even  to  warm  their 
shivering  limbs  while  they  listen  to  organ  tones 
and  almost  unconsciously  absorb  some  crumbs 
of  goodness?  The  old  Middle  Ages  knew  a  sGtft 
of  liberty  foreign  to  purely  modern  lands,  and  we 
hope  that  we  may  always  retain  vestiges  thereof 
amid  our  democratic  acquisitions. 

Correctional  institutions  are  not  the  only  ones 
to  be  found  on  the  islands  in  Boston  harbor ;  the 
poor-houses  are  also  relegated  to  Long  Island. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  impression  produced  upon 
me  one  morning  last  spring  by  the  bright  sunny 
aspect  of  the  harbor.  Beyond  the  many  ships 
at  anchor,  the  islands  lay  scattered  picturesquely, 
all  close  together ;  they  seemed  to  have  no  other 
purpose  than  to  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  panorama, 
while  the  winding,  indented  coast-line,  stretched 
in  promontories  and  peninsulas  far  down  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  and  faded  away  in  the  blue  distance. 
But  I  knew  that  each  of  those  dots  was  the  reposi- 
tory of  those  moral  ofif-scourings  of  which  the  city 
is  so  carefully  cleared ;  that  mendicity  and  vice 
are  driven  there.  I  knew  too  that  a  scandal  had 
lately  broken  out  in  Boston  revealing  dreadful 
abuses  in  the  administration  of  those  sad  refuges. 
And  if  justice  were  done,  it  was,  here  again,  due 
to  a  cry  of  warning  and  alarm  uttered  by  a  woman. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 35 

To  Mrs.  Lincoln  belongs  the  honor  of  denouncing 
what  went  on  in  the  hospital  for  the  poor  of  Long 
Island,  and  investigation  revealed  plenty  of  odious 
details. 

Mr.  and  Mrs,  Lincoln,  wealthy  people  always 
active  in  great  Boston  charities,  dare  on  occasion 
to  lift  the  thick  veil  cast  in  America  over  ugly  and 
unmentionable  things.  The  work  to  which  these 
two  philanthropists  are  especially  devoted  is  that  of 
tenement-houses,  —  an  important  problem.  The 
tenement-house,  swarming  with  tenants,  is  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  a  genuine  hell.  He  requires  — 
and  foreigners  can  hardly  understand  the  want, 
being  of  a  more  sociable  temperament — a  dwelling 
apart,  small  as  it  may  be,  where  he  need  not  dread 
contact  with  his  neighbors ;  he  needs  what  we  can- 
not translate  into  French,  —  the  privacy  of  the 
home,  private  life  surrounded  by  walls  within  which 
he  is  master.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  thought  that 
for  want  of  something  better,  the  tenement-house 
itself  might  be  improved,  made  compatible  with 
family  life.  They  have  therefore  bravely  pledged 
themselves  to  the  management  of  a  number  of 
houses,  which  they  put  in  good  condition,  and 
where  they  exercise  a  watchful  care  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  honest  tenants  who  are  thus  rid  of 
bad  neighbors. 


136  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

I  was  invited  to  an  interesting  meeting  at  their 
house.  A  Mr.  Riis,  a  writer  and  lecturer  of  Dutch 
origin,  read  a  short  tale  of  his  own,  entitled 
"  Skippy,"  —  the  pathetic  story  of  a  street  boy 
who  ended  on  the  gallows,  although  he  was  born 
with  all  the  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  a 
good  American.  The  secret  of  his  shipwreck  lay 
in  the  fact  that  he  had  no  home,  no  playground 
where  children  eager  for  play  have  full  leave  to 
throw  a  ball.  Skippy  sees  beneath  the  black  cap, 
at  the  final  moment,  not  the  crimes  for  which  he 
is  scarcely  responsible;  no,  he  sees  the  wretched 
tenement-house,  the  first  cause  of  all  his  ills.  The 
comments  accompanying  this  story  are  all  the 
more  weighty  because  Mr.  Riis,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, has  long  filled  an  important  place  among 
the  police.  When  he  had  ended,  various  persons 
spoke  of  miserable  and  forsaken  children,  —  among 
others  a  young  woman  from  Buffalo,  who  has  given 
her  life  to  moral  work  in  the  suburbs  of  that  manu- 
facturing town,  which  is  most  corrupt,  according 
to  the  details  which  she  unhesitatingly  gives  us 
in  regard  to  the  prostitution  of  six-year-old  chil- 
dren. This  is  even  worse  than  Chicago,  where 
the  Woman's  Club  had  some  difficulty  in  having 
the  legal  age  of  consent  for  girls  changed  from 
ten  to  sixteen. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  137 

One  of  the  ladies  present  said  to  me :  "  I  will 
take  you  to  see  my  Skippys.  You  shall  see  what 
we  make  of  them."  And  truly  she  did  take  me  on 
the  following  Saturday,  between  seven  and  eight 
in  the  evening,  to  the  big  dance-hall,  or  some- 
thing of  the  sort,  which  she  has  hired  in  the  heart 
of  a  crowded  district  for  the  work  of  her  brigade. 
This  brigade  is  made  up  of  street  urchins,  of  whom 
she  hopes  to  make  men  by  following  the  receipt 
of  Professor  Drummond,  who  has  covered  England, 
and  subsequently  America,  with  well-disciplined 
companies.  Little  scamps  who  have  never  been 
to  Sunday-school,  who  have  not  the  faintest  idea 
of  obedience  or  respect,  are  invited  in.  They  are 
attracted  by  the  bait  of  a  mock  uniform,  which  they 
are  not  allowed  to  wear  until  they  have  learned  the 
drill.  All  boys,  from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the 
other,  have  a  natural  taste  for  playing  soldier. 
By  degrees,  while  they  learn  to  drill  according  to 
the  manual,  they  also  learn  that  a  soldier  should 
never  have  dirty  hands,  unkempt  hair,  or  torn 
clothes ;  they  learn  punctuality  and  submission  to 
rule.  But  what  patience  is  needed  on  the  part 
of  the  officers !  Two  Harvard  students,  familiar 
with  military  drill,  undertook  to  form  the  stubborn 
brigade  whose  acquaintance  I  made  that  night. 
We  saw  before  us  a  herd  of  small  vagabonds,  most 


138  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

of  whom  wore  shoes  trodden  down  at  the  heels 
and  far  too  big  for  them,  with  the  help  of  which 
they  dealt  each  other  fearful  kicks.  They  were 
all  beginners,  and  made  the  drill  an  excuse  for 
endless  tricks;  it  would  be  impossible  to  silence 
them.  A  row  at  last  broke  out,  obliging  the 
officers  to  clear  the  hall  in  order  to  divide  the  ring- 
leaders from  those  who  showed  a  desire  to  learn. 
In  vain  the  generous  manager  of  the  brigade 
tries  to  address  them ;  in  vain  she  shows  them 
the  interesting  pictures  illustrating  an  article  on 
Professor  Drummond's  method,  in  McClure's  maga- 
zine. They  shout  "  toy  soldiers ! "  when  they 
see  the  models  held  up  to  them ;  and  they  laugh 
aloud,  and  hurl  every  weapon  which  comes  to  hand, 
including  the  spittoons,  at  each  other's  heads !  It 
is  always  so  in  the  beginning.  Gavroche  in  Amer- 
ica is  terrible  indeed,  and  he  does  not  disguise 
it.  Craft  seems  as  foreign  to  him  as  deference. 
He  impudently  mocks  at  the  wise  men  and  fair 
women  who  tire  themselves  in  trying  to  help 
him;  but  at  least  he  never  dreams  of  deceiv- 
ing them  by  hypocritical  and  interested  shams. 
There  must  be  several  weeks  of  conflict  with  the 
deviltries  of  these  untaught  savages ;  their  fear 
of  being  expelled  conquers  them ;  they  become 
worthy  to  wear  the  glorious  insignia.     After  that, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 39 

it  is  as  easy  to  lead  them  as  a  single  man.  We 
see  brigades  going  to  the  bath  keeping  step.  We 
see  them  start  for  one  of  those  country  encamp- 
ments which  are  a  part  of  American  customs,  the 
poorest  dweller  in  cities  being  thus  enabled  to 
obtain  a  few  days  of  rest  and  fresh  air,  to  have  a 
profitable  vacation  which  costs  little  or  nothing. 
I  have  read  that  the  growth  of  these  brigades  was 
nowhere  so  remarkable  as  in  San  Francisco,  and 
that  four  hundred  boys,  without  supervision,  formed 
a  summer  camp  on  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  miles  away  from 
the  city.  These  boys  had  reached  the  degree  of 
Christian  manliness  which  is  held  up  to  them  as 
an  objective  point,  and  which  implies,  above  all, 
self-respect;  they  were  recognized  as  capable  of 
self-guidance.  The  paternal  influence  of  a  good 
officer  may  do  much  to  bring  about  this  end,  but 
feminine  influence  also  plays  its  part. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  every  active  and  resolute 
young  American  woman  to  help  in  the  formation 
of  this  army  of  duty.  I  remember  my  surprise 
the  first  time  that  the  mother  of  a  family  said  to 
me  in  the  most  natural  way :  "  One  of  my  daugh- 
ters has  a  taste  for  kindergartening ;  she  gives  all 
her  mornings  to  the  care  of  children.  Another 
manages  a  boys'  brigade."     I  had  another  oppor- 


I40  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

tunity  to  see  how  common  this  kind  of  charity  is. 
The  kind-hearted  daughter  of  a  rich  pubhsher  took 
me  to  the  club,  where  the  members  enhsted  under 
her  command,  have  books,  games,  a  gymnasium, 
and  a  small  theatre.  Escorting  me  afterwards 
through  one  of  the  finest  printing-houses  in  the 
world,  —  the  Riverside  Press  at  Cambridge,  —  she 
introduced  me  with  pride  to  one  of  her  boys  for 
whom  she  had  found  work  with  her  father,  a  zealous 
assistant  in  the  good  mission  which  wholly  absorbs 
her.  Perhaps  it  is  really  to  women  that  it  belongs 
to  shape  men;  the  maternal  instinct  with  which 
almost  all  of  them  are  born  prepares  them  for  that 
task. 

I  admire  more  and  more  the  public  spirit  shown 
on  every  occasion  by  Boston  women  ;  no  afifair  of 
city  or  state  is  foreign  to  them  ;  they  labor  untir- 
ingly at  the  wheel  of  progress.  One  of  them,  ex- 
plaining to  me  how  little  she,  for  her  own  part, 
cared  to  have  her  sex  allowed  to  vote,  alleged 
this  reason  :  "  I  should  no  longer  feel  free  to  apply 
to  all  our  politicians  for  whatever  I  want."  And 
what  she  wants,  what  they  all  want,  is  the  gen- 
eral welfare ;  never  giving  way,  even  in  mat- 
ters of  charity,  to  the  blind  impulse  of  a  kind 
heart;  having  ever  before  them  the  great  social 
problems,    especially    two    great    dangers    which 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  14I 

should  be  contended  against  in  every  country,  — 
the  collection  of  incapable  people  in  great  cities, 
and  the  confusion  too  often  occurring  between  the 
unfortunates  who  should  be  helped  and  those  made 
miserable  through  their  own  fault,  who  should  be 
reformed.  Europeans  would  be  amazed  to  see 
how  easily  this  reform  undertaken  by  American 
philanthropy  is  applied  to  the  character  of  people 
for  the  better  comprehension  of  their  situation. 
Drunkenness  is  the  social  evil;  well,  a  drunkard 
may  be  confined  in  the  Inebriate  Hospital  and 
receive  medical  treatment  until  he  has  made  up 
his  mind  to  work  for  his  family.  I  met  at  the  five- 
o'clock  tea-table,  at  an  elegant  reception,  a  delicate 
young  woman  who  gives  most  of  her  time  to  the 
hospital  for  drunkards.  I  had  several  talks  with 
a  lady  belonging  to  the  best  circles  of  Boston 
society,  whose  especial  mission  is  to  visit  the  men's 
prison.  She  enters  their  cells  by  special  permis- 
sion, talks  with  the  prisoners,  and  acquires  extraor- 
dinary influence  over  them.  She  courageously 
spent  some  time  locked  up  with  a  murderer  whom 
no  one  could  manage,  and  who  was  as  unable  as 
the  rest  to  resist  her  words  and  her  vigorous  com- 
passion. It  is  enough  to  look  at  her  to  understand 
the  power  which  she  wields.  Still  beautiful  with 
her  white  hair,  her  eagle  eyes  full  of  fire,  a  sort  of 


142  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

kindly  bluntness,  an  expression  of  force,  of  passion, 
of  enthusiasm  throughout  her  whole  being,  she 
is  the  personification  of  fearlessness.  She  dreads 
nothing,  and  has  no  cause  to  dread  anything. 
Her  tone  is  not  always  that  of  gentle  and  com- 
monplace exhortation;  she  talks  to  these  out- 
casts of  the  temptations  and  fatalities  which  are  not 
spared  those  whom  they  consider  as  the  privileged 
of  the  world ;  she  shows  them  that  all  men  are 
alike  after  all,  that  all  should  strive,  that  victory 
is  alike  difficult  for  all.  I  have  heard  her,  and  I 
think  I  can  vouch  for  the  efficacy  of  the  means 
which  she  uses  to  move  the  hardened  souls  who 
listen  to  her  words.  One  of  them,  having  left 
prison  after  ten  years*  stay  there,  and  reformed  far 
from  his  home,  came  to  her  in  his  new  guise  of  an 
honest  man,  to  tell  her  that  she  alone  had  saved 
him  from  suicide  and  despair,  and  that  whatever 
he  had  become  he  owed  to  her.  "  That,"  she 
said,  when  she  told  me  this  incident,  "  is  one  of 
those  rewards  which  atone  for  everything." 

I  was  present  at  a  meeting  of  the  "  Boston  Asso- 
ciated Charities,"  whose  object  is  to  insure  the 
harmonious  action  of  the  various  benevolent  so- 
cieties to  prevent  begging,  to  study  in  wholly 
scientific  fashion  the  best  methods  of  preventing 
want.     "Not  alms,  but   a   friend,"  —  such   is   the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 43 

motto  of  this  Association.  It  finds  work,  removes 
poor  debtors  from  the  clutches  of  usurious  money- 
lenders, —  the  usurer  being,  with  whiskey,  the  worst 
enemy  of  the  American  people. 

This  year  (1894)  being  a  year  of  exceptional 
suffering  for  the  poor,  in  consequence  of  financial 
panics,  the  stoppage  of  production  and  the  closing 
of  many  manufactories,  the  Association  was  also 
forced  to  work  with  exceptional  zeal.  In  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  cases  of  poverty  which  took  place 
during  my  visit,  the  part  played  by  one  of  the 
ladies  present  particularly  impressed  me.  The 
kind  of  charity  which  she  exercises  proves  how 
much  the  study  of  languages  does  to  enlarge 
the  heart  and  mind,  multiplying,  as  it  were,  the 
souls.  If  she  did  not  understand  all  the  tongues 
of  Europe,  Miss  Alger  might  have  been  a  Bos- 
ton Puritan,  weighing  good  and  evil  in  the  scales 
with  strict  justice;  but  she  has  become  the  in- 
terpreter in  ordinary  of  wretched  foreigners.  She 
has  made  herself  the  advocate  of  their  wants,  of 
their  feelings,  which  they  cannot  change  from 
one  day  to  another  under  the  influence  of  the 
new  atmosphere  which  they  breathe.  The  Italians 
in  particular  are  her  children ;  she  gives  them 
back  what  she  can  of  their  absent  home  ;  she 
listens  to  them ;  she  submits  herself  to  be  blamed 


144  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

for  them,  by  excusing  the  worst  points  in  those 
poor  wrecks  who  in  Boston  streets  remind  us 
all  too  vividly  of  Naples  or  Palermo.  I  said 
that  every  one  was  concerned  about  the  worthy 
poor.  Miss  Alger  is  possibly  the  only  one  inter- 
ested in  the  unworthy  poor;  she  loves  them  for 
their  very  weaknesses  and  their  sins.  Belonging 
myself  to  the  corrupt  Old  World  whence  these 
emigrants  come,  I  am  as  grateful  to  her  as  if  I 
were  one  of  them. 

College  Settlements.  —  Rest  Cure.  —  Chris- 
tian Science.  —  Boston  Fads. 

Of  course  this  public  spirit  which  is  so  common 
in  America  is  particularly  apparent  in  elderly  peo- 
ple more  or  less  free  from  the  cares  of  housekeep- 
ing, unmarried  or  widowed  persons,  and  mothers 
who  are  at  liberty  during  school  hours  (American 
children  being  universally  sent  out  of  the  house  to 
school)  ;  still,  it  is  not  wholly  lacking  in  young  girls. 
I  wish  that  French  girls  could  see  all  that  occupies 
the  life  of  their  American  sisters  besides  the  famous 
flirtation,  and  very  often  to  its  exclusion.  In  the  first 
place,  as  a  matter  of  course,  they  almost  all  belong 
to  several  clubs,  —  they  would  amount  to  nothing 
otherwise,  —  and  the  duties  of  a  club  are  always 
absorbing.     They  are  at  once   of  an   intellectual 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  1 45 

and  a  charitable  order.  Did  not  the  members  of 
the  Young  Ladies  Saturday  Morning  Club  once 
perform  a  tragedy  by  Sophocles?  They  found  their 
model  at  Harvard,  where  the  students,  towards  the 
close  of  my  stay  in  Boston,  played  Terence  in  Latin, 
with  all  the  details  of  learned  archaism.  The  young 
women  modestly  confined  themselves  (and  I  am 
surprised  at  that)  to  a  translation  from  the  Greek. 
Undeniably  the  loveliest  of  the  actresses,  she  whose 
statuesque  attitude,  with  uplifted  arms  and  eyes 
Mrs.  Whitman's  brush  has  caught, — a  young  Diana, 
who  might  have  contented  herself  to  play  the  part 
of  a  divinity,  —  by  her  own  desire,  solely  from  a 
wish  to  make  herself  useful,  spends  the  better  part 
of  her  days  as  an  unpaid  teacher  in  a  school,  and 
that  quietly,  never  even  alluding  to  it.  Another, 
who  might  also  feel  proud  of  her  beauty  since 
the  famous  sculptor,  St.  Gaudens,  begged  her 
to  pose  for  the  figure  of  an  angel,  is  utterly  de- 
voted to  hospitals  for  children,  and  has  written 
treatises  on  the  proper  care  of  babies.  Still  others 
and  many  of  them,  are  interested  in  college  settle- 
ments. They  appreciate  the  words  of  an  English 
philanthropist :  "  How  strange,  almost  unreal,  our 
faint  impalpable  sorrows,  our  keen,  painful,  pet 
emotions  seem  in  comparison  with  the  great  mass 
of  abject  misery  which  defiles  our  great  cities  1 " 


146  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Through  the  mouth  of  Mr.  Robert  Woods,  an 
eloquent  protest  was  sent  from  Andover  House, 
that  centre  of  Boston  charity,  against  selfish,  heart- 
less learning.  We  would  fain  breathe  it  in  the 
ears  of  all  the  vainglorious  who  imagine  that  in- 
tellectual labor  exempts  them  from  loving  their 
fellow-men  and  from  sacrificing  themselves  for 
them.  The  gist  of  it  was  as  follows  :  Modern  society 
has  great  resources  thus  far  ill  applied  to  manifold 
wants ;  we  must  balance  resources  and  wants,  and 
set  in  motion  the  forces  of  civilization :  this  is  the 
best  of  all  politics.  But  society  cannot  be  saved 
by  methods  ;  it  may  be  by  individuals.  It  requires 
individual  influence,  continued  intimacy,  the  inter- 
est taken  in  human  affairs  by  those  who  have 
drunk  at  the  fountain-head  of  knowledge,  who  have 
acquired  the  requisite  philosophic  and  historic 
breadth  to  love  their  neighbor  well.  The  know- 
ledge acquired,  far  from  deterring  from  the  exercise 
of  philanthropy,  will  merely  add  a  further  stimulus 
to  natural  pity.  Each  of  us,  without  exception, 
should  be  an  apostle. 

I  wish  I  could  quote  all  the  excellent  things 
which  Mr.  Woods  has  written  about  the  idea  of 
the  University  Settlement;  we  should  find  many 
points  in  common  with  the  social  settlement  as 
conceived  by  Miss  Addams  at  Hull  House.     The 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 47 

object  always  is  to  make  the  labor  of  the  poor 
attractive,  the  life  of  the  poor  agreeable.  It  is 
important  that  man  should  everywhere  begin  to 
visit  other  men,  his  brothers;  that  each  visitor 
should  be  an  angel  of  strength,  showing  his  weaker 
brother  the  ignominy  of  a  vicious  life,  and  affording 
him,  by  his  own  example,  a  vision  of  a  better  life. 
Mr.  Woods  would  like  to  see  two  establishments 
of  this  sort  in  every  crowded  district,  —  one  for 
men  and  one  for  women.  In  Boston  there  are 
several.  The  first  which  I  visited  was  small  as  to 
the  size  of  the  house,  but  as  great  as  any  other  if 
we  consider  the  ardor  brought  by  the  residents 
to  their  work ;  for,  of  course,  mere  visitors  are  not 
enough.  The  house  must  be  occupied  by  persons 
giving  all  their  time  to  it,  ready  to  communicate 
with  their  neighbors  of  various  conditions  at  any 
moment,  day  or  night.  Certain  residents,  who 
have  resources  of  their  own,  are  unpaid ;  others 
are  supported  by  members  of  universities  and  by 
charitable  citizens. 

I  reached  the  settlement,  which  to  me  will  always 
be  that  of  "  the  little  blind  girl,"  just  between  day- 
light and  dark.  The  little  blind  girl,  a  child  of 
six  or  seven,  was  seated  in  the  lap  of  a  young 
woman  who  was  telling  her  a  story  while  she 
rocked  to  and  fro  in  her  chair.     At  our  approach 


148  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

she  sprang  up,  with  the  freedom  of  a  merry  child, 
ran  to  us,  stretching  forth  her  poor  hands  Hke  the 
antennae  of  an  insect  to  ward  off  possible  obstacles. 
In  an  instant  she  had  counted  us,  had  made  up 
her  mind  in  regard  to  each,  begging  us  to  take  off 
our  gloves  that  she  might  feel  our  hands,  and  chat- 
tering of  all  sorts  of  things  as  if  she  had  seen  them. 
"  She  is  the  delight  of  the  house,"  said  one  of  the 
residents.  "  Her  parents  gave  her  to  us,  as  they 
have  a  number  of  boys  who  made  a  perfect  little 
martyr  of  their  sister."  Other  children  come  and 
go  from  the  street  where  snow  is  falling,  into  the 
little  warm  sitting-room.  Some  bring  a  penny 
for  the  bank,  where  their  savings  are  growing  by 
degrees.  This  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  virtue 
which  was  long  unknown  in  America,  that  land  of 
careless  waste.  Visitors  also  come  one  after  an- 
other, —  young  women  of  the  middle  class,  who, 
though  pale  and  tired,  still  desire  to  help  others 
after  a  hard  day's  work :  one  gives  lessons ;  another 
is  employed  in  an  office,  but  living  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, she  stops  to  hear  the  news  of  this  big  family 
on  her  way  home;  a  university  graduate  may  also 
prove  that  four  years  of  the  higher  studies  have 
not  set  her  apart  from  the  common  lot. 

The  second  settlement  to  which  I  was  introduced 
contained  several  pretty  rooms,  each  of  which  was 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 49 

furnished  by  one  of  the  colleges  for  women  in 
Massachusetts.  The  lady  in  charge  of  the  estab- 
lishment tells  us  that  she  allows  her  assistants  the 
utmost  possible  freedom ;  that  no  strict  rule  is 
needed,  but  merely  to  oppose  the  organized  forces 
of  good  to  the  organized  forces  of  evil,  without 
fear  of  soiling  one's  hands  by  attacking  the  moral 
miseries  which  are  but  too  often  the  almost  inevi- 
table results  of  extreme  poverty.  She  and  her  com- 
rades devoted  themselves  to  a  thorough  study 
of  the  social  conditions  of  their  district;  then,  once 
familiar  with  the  habits  and  the  tasks  of  their  neigh- 
bors, all  was  easy:  they  had  only  to  enter  into 
communication  with  the  charitable  works  already 
existing  in  the  vicinity,  —  with  the  trades-unions, 
the  workingmen's  clubs,  the  temperance  societies, 

—  to  visit  the  sick,  to  talk,  to  lend  books,  to  sug- 
gest healthy  amusements. 

In  the  next  room  we  hear  a  confused  chatter. 
That  room  is  full  of  little  children;  they  spend 
their  afternoon  in  apparently  childish  fashion,  but 
after  all  it  has  its  serious  side.  One  of  the  ladies 
shows  them  how  to  make  a  flag,  —  to  cut  the 
staff,  to  sew  the  stuff  and  arrange  the  colors  prop- 
erly; the  one  who  does  the  best  work  will  carry 
off  the  flag.     While  making  it,  they  hear  its  history, 

—  that  is  to  say,  the  principal  facts  in  American 


I50  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

history.  The  door  is  constantly  opening  and  clos- 
ing; mothers  come  to  beg  directions  for  cooking, 
information  and  advice  of  every  kind.  Some  even- 
ings there  is  music,  —  very  simple  little  parties 
no  doubt,  but  they  are  made  as  pleasant  as  possible. 
There  are  plenty  of  flowers  and  attempts  at  deco- 
ration ;  and  none  of  it  can  make  the  invited  guests 
unhappy,  since  they  share  it  all.  In  the  settle- 
ments for  men,  the  capitalist,  the  student,  and  the 
laborer  meet  as  if  by  chance,  on  neutral  ground, 
on  equal  terms ;  and  the  results  of  this  union  may 
be  of  great  value  in  the  future. 

We  must  not  suppose  that  young  American  girls 
confine  themselves  to  scientific  and  intellectual 
charity.  They  practise  fashionable  charity  just 
as  French  girls  do.  I  attended  sales  for  various 
charitable  purposes,  quite  as  brilliant  as  those 
which  take  place  in  Paris,  —  one  of  them  in  par- 
ticular, where  all  the  articles  on  sale  were  Japanese, 
and  were  sold  by  the  most  charming  Boston  dam- 
sels arrayed  like  Japanese,  the  decoration  of  the 
stalls  and  the  general  arrangement  being  strictly 
correct  and  very  picturesque.  Neither  good  works 
nor  a  passionate  love  of  study  deter  from  any 
opportunity  for  pleasure.  It  is  wonderful  to  see 
how  fashionable  society  crowds  the  theatre  when 
the  great  comedian  Joe  Jefferson   appears,  or   to 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  151 

applaud  the  famous  actors  sent  over  by  France! 
The  vast  hall  where  weekly  concerts  are  given 
by  an  excellent  orchestra,  is  always  full.  The 
general  air  of  absorption  forbids  a  doubt  as  to  the 
sincerity  of  the  interest  taken  by  the  audience  in 
these  concerts,  which  last  only  about  an  hour  and 
a  half,  —  a  limit  which  might  well  be  adopted 
everywhere.  Many  young  girls  are  good  musi- 
cians ;  they  are  eager,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  set 
off  for  Munich  and  Bayreuth.  Those  who  draw, 
study  painting  in  France  or  Italy,  —  a  pretext  for 
travelling.  On  their  return  they  work  without  in- 
termission, rivalling  professional  painters  in  their 
ardor  and  their  perseverance.  "  Nothing  by  halves  " 
seems  to  be  the  motto  of  all  these  tenacious,  intel- 
ligent, and  ambitious  young  persons. 

The  question  which  I  read  on  the  lips  of  my 
readers  is,  "  How  can  the  strength  of  women, 
herculean  though  it  be,  endure  such  an  outlay  of 
activity;  how  can  they  bear  these  double,  triple, 
quadruple  lives,  led  abreast  and  with  full  steam 
on  ?  "  Remember  the  exciting,  exhilarating  in- 
fluence of  a  dry  climate,  which  puts  quicksilver 
into  one's  veins !  Still,  sometimes  —  nay,  very 
often  indeed  —  the  nervous  strength  thus  put  forth 
gives  way  suddenly;  the  wings  which  bore  them 
up  drop,  and  they  fall  exhausted.     How  common 


152  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

are  the  symptoms  of  consumption,  —  the  hectic 
red  spot  on  the  cheek-bones,  wan  faces,  pale  lips, 
and  dark-circled  eyes !  Nervous  disease  is  univer- 
sal, and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  "  lessons  in 
relaxation "  given  by  Miss  Annie  Payson  Call  are 
so  fashionable.  America  is  probably  the  only 
country  in  the  world  where  the  art  of  quiescence 
has  been  subjected  to  principles  of  hygiene. 

I  have  before  me  Miss  Call's  singular  book, 
"  Power  Through  Repose."  In  it  she  states  — 
which  I  can  readily  believe  —  that  a  German  doctor 
who  established  himself  in  America  was  absolutely 
dumfounded  by  the  number  and  variety  of  nervous 
disorders  brought  to  him  for  treatment.  At  last 
he  announced  the  discovery  of  a  new  malady,  which 
he  adorned  with  the  name  of  "  Americanitis."  The 
faculty  strive  against  Americanitis  in  vain,  special 
private  asylums  increase  constantly ;  rest  cures  are 
ordered,  as  cold-water  cures  might  be  elsewhere. 
Miss  Call  very  judiciously  invites  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  troubles  produced  by  prolonged  dis- 
obedience to  Nature's  laws  can  be  cured  only  by 
a  return  to  those  despised  laws.  We  must  there- 
fore learn  —  and  her  teachings  hinge  on  this  point 
—  to  relax  thoroughly  in  sleep ;  to  avoid  all  ner- 
vous contraction  in  driving  or  riding ;  to  think 
calmly  without  the  aid  of  any  superfluous  forces ; 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 53 

to  look  and  listen  without  unnecessary  tension  ; 
to  talk  without  excessive  chatter;  to  manage  the 
voice  according  to  the  principles  of  sound  physi- 
logy ;  not  to  sew  with  the  nape  of  the  neck ;  not 
to  bring  on  cramp  in  writing,  etc.  The  chapter 
which  will  give  to  French  readers  the  most  insight 
into  the  degree  of  excitement  to  which  an  Ameri- 
can woman  may  attain,  is  that  treating  of  diseased 
emotions,  —  the  passion  of  pupils  for  their  school- 
mistress ;  morbid  attachments  between  young  girls ; 
artificial  loves,  which  are  merely  love  of  emotion, 
not  that  of  an  individual ;  in  short,  to  translate  it 
all  by  one  expressive  word  which  sums  up  the 
height  of  nervous  over-excitement  and  entire  loss 
of  self-control,  —  "  dry  drunkenness^  As  we  read 
these  pages,  we  feel  with  pleasure  that  France  is 
the  land  of  naturalness ;  and  we  begin  to  appreciate 
that  creature  made  up  of  good  common-sense, 
"  Henriette,"  who  always  seemed  to  us  exag- 
geratedly commonplace  before  we  crossed  the 
Atlantic.  To  exaggerate  duty  into  pedantry  and 
self-consciousness  into  obsession,  these  are  faults 
of  which  Moli^re  never  dreamed.  We  have  no 
expression  in  French  equivalent  to  self-conscious- 
ness, which  depicts  a  soul-state  springing  from 
Puritanism.  Incessant  examination  of  conscience 
is  foreign  to  us.     The  Catholic  religion  accustoms 


154  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

those  who  practise  it  to  yield  to  guidance ;  the 
result  is,  morality  apart,  a  certain  timid  grace 
and  an  amiable  distrust  of  self. 

Miss  Call  treats  both  soul  and  body,  for  she 
tells  us  that  a  lady  came  to  consult  her  in  regard 
to  the  cure  of  an  excessive  susceptibility ;  she  ad- 
vised her,  whenever  she  felt  wounded,  to  imagine 
that  her  legs  were  heavy,  which  would  produce 
a  muscular  relaxation,  a  nervous  liberation,  and 
relieve  the  tension  caused  by  her  excessive  sensi- 
bility. It  seems  that  the  prescription  worked 
wonders,  this  wholly  outward  process  helping  the 
patient's  mind  to  rise  to  a  higher  plane  of  philoso- 
phy. We  understand  the  following  advice  much 
better:  "Never  resist  a  trouble;  it  is  increased  by 
the  effort  which  you  make  to  overcome  it.  The 
body  should  be  trained  to  obey  the  mind ;  the 
mind  should  be  trained  to  give  to  the  body  orders 
worthy  of  obedience.  Avoid  too  great  preoccu- 
pation with  self,  insanity  being  possibly  merely 
egotism  gone  to  seed.  The  oftener  you  use  the 
word  /,  the  greater  your  nervous  trouble  becomes. 
Let  us  quietly  accept  all  that  Nature  is  constantly 
ready  to  give  us,  and  let  us  use  it  for  the  object 
that  she  suggests  to  us,  which  is  always  the 
truest  and  best;  we  shall  thus  live  as  the  little 
child  lives,  with  the  addition  of  wisdom." 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 55 

The  "  serenity  of  a  little  child  "  is  the  ideal  held 
up  by  Miss  Call  to  her  pupils.  One  of  them  told 
me  that  by  teaching  her  repose,  perfect  relaxation 
of  all  her  limbs,  her  teacher  had  put  her  into  such 
condition  that  she  could  roll  from  top  to  bottom 
of  the  stairs  without  doing  herself  any  harm.  She 
invited  me  to  assist  at  her  lesson,  and  I  gladly 
accepted.  I  went  with  her  to  Miss  Call.  I  found 
her  to  be  a  young  woman  of  calm  and  distinguished 
appearance,  who  in  a  few  words  and  without  the 
least  charlatanry  stated  to  me  what  she  called  her 
method,  —  not  claiming  that  there  was  any  new 
idea  in  it,  but  that  it  was  merely  a  return  to  Nature. 
The  restoration  of  the  physical  and  moral  equilib- 
rium induced  by  the  art  of  inaction  may  save  the 
lives  of  many  overwrought  American  women.  It 
will  also  be  introduced  into  France  before  long. 
Even  the  most  coquettish  of  Parisians  might  be 
tempted  by  the  costume  which  Miss  Call  wore,  — 
silk  tights,  covered  by  a  light  silk  tunic,  leaving 
the  arms  and  legs  free.  This  Greek  costume  is 
not  strictly  necessary,  —  any  ordinary  gymnastic 
dress  will  do ;  but  we  were  urged  to  pay  careful 
heed  to  the  play  of  the  muscles  which  would  be 
hidden  in  a  different  dress.  Miss  Call,  stretched 
at  full  length  on  the  floor,  or  standing  in  attitudes 
of  perfect  grace,  did  indeed  produce  the  restful 


156  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

effect  of  the  abandonment  of  all  effort  and  all  voli- 
tion. With  closed  eyes,  she  imagines  herself  as 
heavy  as  lead,  then  slowly  performs  movements 
enacted  by  each  limb  as  if  it  were  a  part,  as  she 
expresses  it,  of  a  bag  of  bones  united  by  very 
loose  links.  Great  flexibility  results.  She  has 
adopted  and  enlarged  the  Delsarte  system,  which 
is  very  widely  known  in  America.  But  Delsarte 
only  practised  the  letter;  she  flatters  herself  that 
she  has  discovered  the  spirit.  Certainly  art  should 
benefit  by  her  experiences ;  she  believes  that  a 
school  of  sincerity,  in  opposition  to  the  dramatic 
hysteria  now  too  common,  will  be  the  result  for 
the  theatre.  Freedom,  rhythm,  equilibrium,  such 
are  the  qualities  which  she  offers  to  teach  by 
a  normal  drill  which,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
strengthens  the  body,  stimulates  the  brain.  I 
could  only  judge  of  the  plastic  part;  and  I  must 
confess  that  it  was  irreproachable.  There  may 
be  a  closer  connection  than  is  at  first  apparent 
between  Miss  Call's  rest  teaching  and  the  precepts 
of  the  new  Christian  Science,  which  also  implies  a 
sort  of  quietism,  a  necessary  reaction  against  the 
untiring  Puritan  will. 

Christian  Science,  which  Mrs.  J.  T.  Coolidge,  Jr.,^ 

^  "The  Modem   Expression   of   the    Oldest   Philosophy,"  by 
Katharine  Coolidge. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  I  $7 

one  of  its  adepts,  offers  us  as  the  modern  expres- 
sion of  the  oldest  philosophy,  severely  criticised 
though  it  be  by  some,  bids  fair  to  rival  medicine 
in  certain  circles  of  New  York  and  Boston.  It  is 
held  in  especial  favor  in  Boston,  so  deeply  imbued 
with  transcendentalism,  and  ever  mindful  of  Emer- 
son's teaching,  "  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star." 
It  was  to  Boston,  too,  that  the  great  preacher,  the 
adored  bishop,  Phillips  Brooks,  addressed  these 
noble  words :  "  There  is  but  one  life,  the  life 
eternal."  All  this  is  perfectly  in  accord  with  the 
new  or  renascent  science  that  there  is  not  one 
principle  for  spiritual  things  and  another  for  natu- 
ral things,  —  the  same  principle  acts  throughout 
the  universe.  Matter  is  animated  by  divine  life 
as  is  the  spirit  itself;  products  of  the  creative 
thought,  we  partake  of  its  limitless  vitality;  our 
health,  both  moral  and  physical,  depends  upon 
this  established  current.  The  cure  of  physical 
evils  is  secondary ;  bodily  health  will  follow  when 
the  soul  is  healed.  So  too  Solomon  refused  to 
believe  that  God  had  ordered  death,  which  entered 
into  this  world  by  the  envious  desire  of  the  devil, 
and  which  threatens  only  those  who  are  allied  to 
him. 

I  sought  out  one  of  the  distributers  of  Christian 
Science  in  her  office :  "  Is  it  true,  madam,  that  here 


158  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

in  Boston  and  elsewhere  more  than  one  woman 
refuses  to  call  in  a  physician  when  a  child  is  born, 
because  we  should  live  without  thought  for  the 
morrow,  like  the  lily  of  the  field?  " 

"  It  is  a  fact.  Women  who  follow  the  teachings 
of  Christian  Science  forget,  at  such  times,  as  at 
all  others,  that  they  have  a  body.  They  discard 
all  customary  precautions ;  people  are  surprised  to 
see  them  get  up,  walk  out,  and  run  what  the  vulgar 
call  all  sorts  of  risks,  and  yet  suffer  no  bad  results." 

"  But,  after  all,  a  broken  leg  requires  setting. 
What  should  I  do  if  I  broke  my  leg?  " 

"  You  should  say  that  it  is  not  broken ;  that  the 
pain  is  an  illusion ;  and  your  leg  will  get  well.  A 
severe  accident  is  far  easier  to  cure  than  those 
chronic  troubles  which  have  become  a  bad  mental 
habit.  I  hurt  my  arm  not  long  since.  I  continued 
to  use  it,  refusing  to  believe  in  any  injury,  and 
telling  myself  that  with  God's  help  all  was  well. 
Two  days  later  I  was  entirely  cured.  Years  ago 
I  recovered  my  health,  which  the  doctors  declared 
irretrievably  impaired,  in  this  same  way.  I  re- 
covered it  for  my  child,  for  many  others." 

"  Can  I  be  one  of  those  privileged  persons?  " 

"  It  all  depends  on  the  state  of  your  soul.  I 
am  about  to  begin  a  course  of  lessons:  you  can 
join  the  class." 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 59 

"  Then  you  first  advise  those  who  suffer  to  per- 
suade themselves  that  their  suffering  has  no  exis- 
tence, and  you  fill  them  with  your  own  conviction 
until  relief  occurs?     You  magnetize  them?" 

"There  is  no  magnetism  about  it;  or  at  least 
it  is  an  involuntary  magnetism,  such  as  each  of 
us  exerts  on  his  brothers,  and  which  represents 
the  increasing  power  to  receive  and  give  life.  We 
use  neither  hypnotism  nor  suggestion.  We  treat 
the  body  through  the  soul." 

"  Religion  commands  us  to  submit  to  trials ; 
that  is  the  way  to  suffer  least,  I  grant  you,  for  we 
are  thus  spared  the  agony  of  impatience  and  revolt. 
It  seems  to  me  that  religion  is  all  sufficient;  but  I 
fancy  that  I  should  add  a  surgical  operation  to  the 
strength  which  it  affords,  if  I  had  the  misfortune 
to  require  one." 

This  doctress  of  a  new  order  smiled  with  indul- 
gent pity  at  my  blindness :  "  We  cannot  argue 
until  you  have  attended  my  lessons,  and  have 
passed  a  slight  examination." 

"Of  my  conscience?  Do  you  propose  to  feel 
my  spiritual  pulse?" 

"  In  a  summary  fashion  and  with  discretion, 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  learning  whether  you 
are  in  a  fit  state  to  be  treated,  and  to  help  you  to 
attain  to  it." 


l60  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

She  has  a  most  honest  aspect,  mediumistic  eyes, 
vague  and  dark-circled,  with  a  sickly  complexion, 
although  she  professes  to  be  perfectly  well  since 
she  has  found  the  truth.  I  place  the  price  of  my 
consultation  on  the  mantelpiece  and  withdraw, 
thinking  of  a  friend  who,  having  been  converted 
to  this  kind  of  spiritual  cure,  allowed  the  growth 
of  an  internal  disease,  of  which  she  might  have 
died  had  she  not  reluctantly  called  in  earthly  aid. 
"  Because  her  faith  was  weak !  "  some  may  say. 
Others  merely  smile  an  obstinate  smile,  as  did 
that  handsome  young  woman  who,  only  a  few 
days  after  the  birth  of  her  child,  followed  me  out, 
with  nothing  over  her  bare  head  and  neck,  to  her 
door,  and  stood  there  on  a  freezing  March  day, 
defying  the  cold. 

These  instances  will  help  to  show  the  other  side 
of  the  picture  in  Boston,  —  a  picture  moreover 
most  interesting,  painted  at  the  same  time  with 
delicacy  and  vigor.  Infatuation  is  prevalent  there ; 
that  is  proverbial.  All  America  will  tell  you  of 
Boston  fads.  I  witnessed  two  or  three  during  my 
stay  there ;  and  if  I  did  not  collect  more,  it  was 
probably  for  want  of  attention.  The  most  singular 
seemed  to  me  that  of  which  Mozoomdar,  the 
Hindoo  reformer,  was  the  object.  Certainly,  the 
Chicago  Congress  of  Religions  was  a  great  thing. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  l6l 

That  voluntary  meeting  of  the  ministers  of  all 
existing  creeds,  and  the  friendly  exchange  of  ideas 
between  them,  bore  a  superb  testimony  to  the  toler- 
ance of  the  age,  and  to  the  spirit  of  sincerity  which 
prevails  more  and  more  as  time  goes  on.  Perhaps 
it  may  mark  the  era  of  a  sort  of  spiritual  unity ; 
but  it  seems  more  difficult  to  admit  that  a  unity 
of  such  recent  date  authorizes  the  utterance  of 
Buddhist  sermons  from  a  Christian  pulpit.  How- 
ever, I  am  less  shocked  by  the  comparisons  made 
in  Unity  Church  (Chicago)  by  Dharmapala,  of 
Ceylon,  between  Christ  and  Buddha,  —  I  am  less 
shocked  by  this,  I  repeat,  than  by  the  pious  heed 
paid  by  Boston  ladies  to  the  revelation  of  a  new 
Christianity,  an  Oriental  Christianity  contrasting 
its  glittering  glory  with  the  antiquated  forms  of 
our  own. 

The  infatuation  for  Mozoomdar  is  an  instance 
of  the  fad  for  persons ;  the  infatuation  for  the  "  In- 
truder "  and  "  Blind,"  ^  an  example  of  a  literary 
fad.  The  misuse  of  clubs  is  also  a  Boston  fad. 
I  think  I  have  shown  their  good  points ;  but  the 
increase  of  clubs  also  increases  coteries  and  sets. 
Are  there  not,  as  statistics  show,  two  clubs  for 
women  lawyers,  the  Portia  and  the  Pentagon?  This 
is  assuredly  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  very  small 
*  Maeterlinck. 


1 62  THE   CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

number  of  women  lawyers  or  law  students.  Per- 
sons of  one  and  the  same  profession  risk  becoming 
studied  and  artificial  when  they  thus  form  a  special 
class  by  themselves.  It  is  well  sometimes  to  forget 
what  we  know  and  what  we  are.  Spontaneity, 
perfect  simplicity  are  gifts  too  precious  for  a 
woman  to  risk  their  loss  by  excess  of  method  and 
exclusiveness.  When  we  Frenchwomen  wish  to 
enjoy  a  book,  we  read  it  beside  the  fire,  with  no 
other  end  in  view  than  our  own  pleasure,  feeling 
no  desire  to  repeat  to  each  new-comer  the  famous 
question,  "Have  you  read  Baruch?"  by  way  of 
winning  converts.  In  Boston,  women  who  read 
combine  together  to  criticise  and  discuss  a  book: 
at  once  a  new  club  is  formed,  and  given  the  name 
of  some  author  or  another.  The  result  is  that  in 
spite  of  all  the  praise  I  have  bestowed  on  the  con- 
versation, it  borrows  from  familiarity  with  clubs 
almost  as  many  defects  as  good  qualities  ;  it  some- 
what lacks  lightness  and  spontaneity.  That  rapid 
transit  from  one  subject  to-  another  from  which  an 
unexpected  witticism  flashes,  is  rather  avoided  than 
sought.  Fluent  speech  is  an  art  carried  to  a  great 
height  by  some,  both  men  and  women,  but  rather 
in  the  form  of  a  monologue.  Besides,  the  ex- 
treme politeness  which  is  current,  forbids  anything 
even  remotely  resembling  an  interruption  in  con- 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 63 

versation,  even  of  the  most  intimate  ;  rather  than 
break  in  upon  a  neighbor's  remarks,  a  return  thrust 
is  often  left  unmade ;  and  the  formulas  "  I  beg 
your  pardon  !  "  "  Excuse  me !  "  recur  oftener  than 
seems  necessary.  A  little  formality  and  artificiality 
result.  So,  too,  happy  hits  uttered  anywhere  are 
gathered  up,  repeated,  "  put  under  glass,"  especially 
when  they  emanate  from  those  officially  recognized 
as  wits.  The  latter  could  not  be  more  petted  at 
the  Hotel  de  Rambouillet  than  they  are  by  the 
pr^cieiises  of  Boston.  We  entreat  those  American 
ladies  who  have  no  knowledge  of  this  word,  save 
with  the  accompaniment  of  an  injurious  epithet, 
kindly  to  forget  their  great  favorite  Coquelin  in 
Mascarille,  and  to  remember  that  before  they  were 
made  ridiculous  by  Moli^re,  the  ^^ precieuses"  were 
illustrious  according  to  Corneille.  The  prudery, 
affectation,  and  pedantry  attributed  to  the  degen- 
erate imitators  of  that  first  circle  of  which  virtue 
was  the  soul,  were  but  the  middle-class  exaggera- 
tion of  very  praiseworthy  refinements  and  delica- 
cies opposed  by  great  ladies,  who  were  also  honest 
women,  to  the  common  irregularities  of  manners 
and  speech.  Like  Boston,  the  Hotel  de  Rambou- 
illet represented  a  centre  of  intellectual  culture; 
and  on  looking  back,  we  shall  find  in  the  one 
almost  all   that  is   now   current   in   the   other,  — 


1 64  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

respect  for  virtuous  restraint;  cultivation  of  friend- 
ship ;  contempt  for  things  which  are  gross  and 
material ;  a  voluntary  forgetfulness  of  bodily  wants 
and  the  conditions  of  old  age ;  the  subtilities  of 
a  conventional  language  bestowing  pretty  nick- 
names upon  the  initiated,  etc.  Just  as  the  court 
and  town  were  jealous  of  the  Hotel  de  Rambouillet, 
so  great  rival  cities  launch  the  arrows  of  envy  at 
the  Athens  of  America;  which  does  not  prevent 
the  fact  that  it  was  from  Boston  in  particular,  and 
from  New  England  in  general,  that  the  generous 
and  noble  impulse  sprang  which  in  France,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  spreading 
from  the  palace  of  Arth^nice  to  all  France,  pro- 
duced a  general  good  breeding,  politeness,  and 
tact,  whose  very  names  were  until  then  unknown. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  l6f 


III.       • 

COLLEGES  FOR  WOMEN.  —  CO-EDUCATION.  —  UNI- 
VERSITY EXTENSION. 

COLLEGES    FOR   WOMEN. 

Among  the  many  theatrical  posters  which  last 
winter  proclaimed  the  performance  throughout 
America  of  plays  adapted  from  the  French,  and 
often  retaining  little  of  their  origin,  —  side  by 
side  with  "  Champinol  Malgr6  lui,"  converted  into 
"  The  Other  Man,"  and  the  colored  silhouette  of 
Fanny  Davenport  in  Cleopatra  (Sardou's  Cleopatra), 
—  I  saw,  by  way  of  exception,  something  quite 
original.  This  poster  represented  a  brother  and 
sister  dressed  exactly  alike  except  for  the  skirt, 
which  prudently  concealed  on  the  young  woman 
one  of  those  combination  suits  so  commonly  worn 
in  America  in  place  of  dainty  linen,  now  out  of 
fashion.  The  same  waistcoat,  the  same  hat,  the 
same  stick  in  the  hand  of  each,  the  same  field-glass 
slung  across  the  shoulders,  with  the  motto,  which 
proceeding  jovially  from  the  lips  of  the  one  seems 
to  compel  the  other  to  shrink  back  in  horror: 
"  Wherever  you  go,  my  dear  Dick,  I  go  too !  " 
This  is  indeed  the  key  to  the  situation. 


1 66  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

The  boys  go  to  the  university:  the  sisters  insist 
upon  going  there  too.  All  existing  educational 
institutions,  whether  public  or  private,  high  schools 
or  academies,  long  since  ceased  to  satisfy  them  ; , 
they  are  bent  upon  being  prepared  to  enter  every 
career  once  reserved  for  men.  I  think  I  have 
already  stated  that  the  great  movements  of  the 
contemporary  life  of  women  in  America  are  shown 
by  the  club  and  college,  —  association  and  culture. 
The  country  begins  to  swarm  with  women  doctors, 
lawyers,  and  baccalaureates. 

I  was  invited  to  a  club  of  women  graduates  at 
Boston.  I  have  a  vague  recollection  of  having 
shaken  some  hundreds  of  hands.  That  crowd  of 
young  girls  adorned  with  their  college  degrees  was 
truly  imposing ;  but  I  could  not  help  thinking, 
"  What  use  is  all  this  in  the  home?"  I  forgot  that 
America  is  a  world  in  itself;  that  schools  are 
scattered  thickly  over  its  surface  ;  and  that  for 
many  years  to  come  there  will  never  be  enough 
teachers.  All  the  fair  damsels  who  talked  to  me 
in  the  same  breath  of  Vassar,  Smith,  Wellesley, 
Harvard,  and  Bryn  Mawr,  where  they  took  their 
degrees,  were  as  light-hearted  as  if  they  were  not 
overloaded  with  learning.  The  presence  of  men 
could  have  added  nothing  to  their  inexhaustible 
animation  ;  they  were  wholly  sufficient  unto  them- 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 67 

selves,  munching  cakes  and  sandwiches,  and  drink- 
ing a  fantastic  sort  of  tea  in  which  lemon  predomi- 
nated. "  What  has  become  of  the  famous  flirta- 
tion? "  I  asked  a  friend.  She  laughed  and  replied : 
"  This  is  a  different  generation  ;  there  is  no  use 
trying  to  hide  it  Flirtation  decreases  in  propor- 
tion to  the  increase  of  culture.  _  Many  girls  no 
longer  care  to  marry ;  instead  of  conquests  they 
aim  at  independence."  Others  assured  me,  on  the 
contrary,  that  all  the  diplomas  in  the  world  would 
not  prevent  Nature  from  having  her  way,  and  that 
a  university  education  was  the  best  of  all  educa- 
tions to  fit  a  woman  for  the  duties  of  life,  whatever 
path  she  might  elect  to  follow.  I  can  readily  be- 
lieve the  first  part  of  this  assertion  ;  I  am  not  quite 
so  sure  of  the  absolute  truth  of  the  second  part. 
But  I  will  let  my  readers  decide  for  themselves, 
after  a  glance  at  a  few  colleges. 

They  are  generally  situated  in  the  near  neighbor- 
hood, and  as  it  were  under  the  wing,  of  the  most 
famous  universities.  Thus  in  New  York  Barnard 
College  is  connected  with  Columbia;  and  so  too, 
thanks  to  the  Woman's  Annex  of  Harvard,  two 
hundred  and  sixty-three  young  girls,  most  highly 
privileged  of  all,  are  permitted  to  breathe,  in  the 
academic  town  without  a  parallel,  that  atmosphere 
of  new   Cambridge  which  has   ripened   so   many 


l68  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOM^VN 

splendid  intellects  and  matured  so  many  noble 
talents.  Cambridge  is  new  only  in  comparison 
with  the  old  English  Cambridge ;  for  it  was  as 
far  back  as  1636  that  a  graduate  of  this  latter  uni- 
versity, John  Harvard,  created  the  centre  of  learn- 
ing which  bears  his  name.  Time  has  therefore 
placed  his  mark  upon  the  principal  buildings, 
which  are  very  venerable  with  their  great  yard 
shut  in  by  gates  of  wrought  iron  and  planted  with 
century-old  elms.  One  of  these  trees,  known  as 
the  Washington  Elm,  bears  an  inscription  in  com- 
memoration of  the  day  when  the  great  man  for 
the  first  time  drew  his  sword  at  the  head  of  the 
American  army,  beneath  its  shade.  The  entire 
town  seems  sacred  to  study,  history,  and  pious 
memories.  I  visited  the  homes  of  Lowell  and 
Longfellow,  still  occupied  by  their  families,  and 
filled  with  books,  busts,  and  pictures  which  are 
so  many  precious  relics.  In  the  Longfellow  house, 
built  in  pure  colonial  style,  Washington  once  lived. 
Almost  all  these  wooden  houses  have  high  gables 
or  porches  with  columns.  Those  who  show  them 
to  you  name  over  most  of  the  writers  in  whom 
New  England  takes  such  pride.  The  glories  of 
their  first  greatness  have  faded,  but  the  widows 
and  daughters  of  those  venerated  dead  are  still 
there,  surrounded  by  respect ;  they  give  their  time, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 69 

their  care,  their  protection  to  the  college  for  young 
girls,  who  make  it  a  point  of  honor  to  pass 
the  same  examinations  as  the  students  of  the 
University. 

This  college  struck  me  as  above  all  criticism 
for  several  reasons ;  the  first  of  which  is  the  moral 
guidance  afforded  it  by  Mrs.  Agassiz,  a  person  of 
great  good  sense  and  good  taste,  two  qualities 
which,  as  we  have  often  seen,  rarely  go  hand  in 
hand.  The  society  in  charge  of  the  University 
education  for  women  is  made  up,  in  Cambridge, 
of  men  and  women  of  the  highest  distinction; 
the  president,  widow  of  the  celebrated  naturalist 
Louis  Agassiz,  seemed  to  me  an  American  Main- 
tenon  ruling  over  a  modern  Saint-Cyr,  which  the 
pupil  leaves  provided  not  only  with  bona-jide 
diplomas,  but  also  with  solid  principles  and  ex- 
cellent manners.  Four  years  spent  in  almost 
daily  contact  with  such  a  character  cannot  fail 
to  develop  all  that  is  best  in  each  student.  An- 
other reason  which  makes  the  Harvard  Annex 
unrivalled  is  the  ever  present  influence  of  the  great 
University,  which  lends  it  its  own  professors.  The 
small  number  of  students  is  also  a  real  advantage, 
as  is  the  system  of  boarding  out,  which  distributes 
girls  from  a  distance  among  families  of  the  town. 
Dormitories  of  any  kind  are  thus  done  away  with. 


I/O  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Almost  everywhere  else  they  shocked  me.  Nothing 
could  be  more  comfortable  or  more  attractive  than 
the  rooms  of  boarding-school  girls  as  I  saw  them 
in  America ;  but  the  difference  in  their  quarters 
cannot  fail  to  produce  envy  and  vanity,  —  unless 
as  in  the  one  college  of  Baltimore,  the  best  rooms 
rightfully  belong,  not  to  the  richest,  but  to  the 
most  meritorious.  The  custom  of  putting  two 
girls  together  displeased  me  even  more,  whether 
a  tiny  parlor  divided  the  two  sleeping-rooms  (I 
saw  one  girl  receive  her  brother  there,  although  he 
was  not  the  brother  of  the  other),  or  even  when, 
as  frequently  happens,  a  single  bed  is  shared  by 
two.  The  Harvard  Annex  arrangement  does  away 
with  all  this. 

One  of  the  patronesses  of  the  place  —  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  author  of  "Evangeline"  —  took 
me  over  Fay  House,  which  is  the  name  of  the 
building  containing  the  class-rooms,  laboratories, 
music-rooms,  and  lecture-halls.  Everything  is  per- 
fectly managed,  without  unnecessary  luxury.  The 
well-chosen  library  is  particularly  useful  in  con- 
nection with  the  reading-rooms,  the  University 
library  being  free  to  all  students  of  the  Annex. 

Mrs.  Agassiz  has  a  tea  every  Wednesday.  The 
students  whom  she  gathers  about  her  in  motherly 
fashion    owe   to   her   the   boon    of  education,    so 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  I71 

superior  to  that  of  instruction.  The  associate  of 
her  husband's  great  labors  and  long  journeys, 
Mrs.  Agassiz  possesses  a  prestige  which  increases 
the  value  of  her  counsels.  She  agrees  with  Words- 
worth and  with  Emerson.  The  former  said  of 
America  that  society  there  was  provided  with  a 
superficial  learning  out  of  all  proportion  with  the 
curb  of  moral  culture.  Emerson,  who  quotes  this 
opinion,  adds  that  to  his  thinking,  schools  may  be 
of  no  benefit ;  that  the  education  supplied  by  cir- 
cumstances is  often  preferable  to  lessons  properly 
so  called;  that  the  essential  point  is  to  avoid  all 
falsity,  to  have  courage  to  be  true  to  one's  self,  to 
love  that  which  is  beautiful,  to  preserve  one's  in- 
dependence and  good  temper,  and  to  have  the 
constant  desire  to  add  something  to  the  well  being 
of  others.  Most  assuredly  these  sound  precepts 
rule  in  the  refined  circle  at  Harvard ;  the  women 
who  graduate  there  are  not  only  scholars,  but 
pre-eminently  "  ladies,"  thanks  to  the  sovereign 
influence  of  example  and  surroundings. 

Another  college  of  grand  aspect,  more  lately 
founded  (1884)  in  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia,  is 
that  of  Bryn  Mawr.  Six  separate  buildings,  of 
picturesque  appearance,  whose  towers  and  gables 
peep  through  the  trees,  stand  in  a  wooded  region, 
surrounded  by  gardens  and  lawns.     Some  are  used 


172  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

as  dwelling-houses,  others  for  the  various  depart- 
ments of  study,  managed  according  to  the  best 
and  newest  methods.  The  teachers,  men  and 
women,  live  outside ;  no  one  lives  within  the  walls 
of  the  college  but  the  students  and  their  principal, 
Miss  M.  Carey  Thomas,  who  wears  the  impressive 
title  of  dean  with  an  infinite  amount  of  kindly 
authority.  Perhaps  her  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
French  language,  French  literature,  and  of  every- 
thing French  may  have  had  something  to  do  with 
it;  but  the  type  of  the  coming  woman  as  described 
by  Tennyson,  —  free  "  to  live  and  learn,  and  be 
all  that  harms  not  distinctive  womanhood,"  not 
becoming  "  undeveloped  man,"  not  letting  intellect 
destroy  all  grace, — seems  to  me  to  be  realized 
in  most  peculiarly  attractive  fashion  in  Dean 
Thomas.  Aided  by  young,  active,  zealous  women, 
whose  great  wealth  obviates  the  necessity  of  all 
sordid  care,  she  plainly  affords  the  noblest  stimu- 
lus to  a  company  of  students  whose  number 
barely  exceeds  one  hundred  and  fifty.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  in  America  all  degrees  — 
bestowed  by  the  college  itself,  contrary  to  French 
custom  —  are  of  equal  value :  the  higher  the  rank 
of  the  college,  the  more  highly  is  the  degree 
esteemed.  A  degree  from  Harvard,  for  instance, 
opens  every  door  to  its  possessor;  and  it  is  also 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 73 

an  inestimable  distinction  to  have  attended  the 
classical,  scientific,  or  literary  lectures  at  Bryn 
Mawr.  It  is  well  known  that  there  is  no  desire  to 
make  a  show,  no  frivolity,  no  shallowness,  about 
the  teaching  here,  as  may  be  the  case  elsewhere, 
and  that  the  woman  who  leaves  Bryn  Mawr  a 
master  of  arts,  or  even  a  doctor  of  philosophy,  is 
fully  supplied  with  the  stock  in  trade  of  a  gowns- 
man or  a  scholar.  They  are  not  only  in  earnest, 
but  very  attractive,  these  young  graduates,  in 
the  black  gown  and  square  cap  which  they  wear 
within  the  college  precincts,  and  which  make  them 
look  like  Shakespeare's  Portia.  Their  life  seemed 
to  me  delightful  in  every  way.  The  freedom  of 
the  country;  the  quiet  desirable  for  undisturbed 
work  ;  the  close  proximity  of  a  great  city  with 
its  artistic  and  other  resources,  which  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  them  from  enjoying  ;  four 
months  vacation,  when  they  can  travel;  most 
comfortable  quarters ;  teachers  picked  and  chosen ; 
every  means,  without  a  single  exception,  for  de- 
veloping moral  as  well  as  physical  growth, —  such 
is  their  lot.  In  the  vast  gymnasium,  I  saw  Portia 
stripped  of  her  doctor's  robe,  devoting  herself  to 
exercises  which  prevent  the  spirit  from  over-mas- 
tering the  body.  Loose  Turkish  trousers  frankly 
revealed   the   shapely    leg;    a   shirt-waist   with    a 


174  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

leather  belt  outlined  a  waist  larger  than  is  usually 
permitted  by  the  American  taste  for  slender  figures ; 
black-silk  stockings  and  heelless  shoes  completed 
this  pretty  costume,  and  the  whole  testified  that 
the  danger  of  over-work  had  been  successfully 
avoided. 

The  dean  conducted  me  through  the  other  parts 
of  the  establishment,  containing  class-rooms,  stud- 
ies, lecture-rooms,  and  bedrooms.  In  the  main 
building,  marble  busts  from  the  antique  lined  airy, 
sunny  galleries.  I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  see 
the  busts  of  Dante  and  Savonarola  in  the  chapel, 
for  I  had  been  told  that  Bryn  Mawr  was  founded 
by  a  Quaker  ;  but  in  America,  women  who  have 
grown  up  under  the  old  regime  are  often  aston- 
ished. For  instance,  the  crowded  condition  of 
the  laboratories  proved  a  passion  for  biology  which 
in  Europe  is  very  exceptional  in  young  girls,  but 
which  is  almost  universal  here.  Each  of  these 
damsels  was  occupied  in  delicately  torturing  a 
frog  or  a  lobster.  Miss  Thomas  explained  that 
their  taste  for  chemistry  and  biology  had  recently 
been  stimulated  by  the  privilege  at  last  granted 
to  women  of  entering  the  Baltimore  medical  school 
on  equal  terms  with  men.  Johns  Hopkins,  when 
he  left  his  immense  fortune  to  that  city  for  the 
foundation   of  the   University   and   hospital,    also 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 75 

wished  to  establish  a  medical  school ;  but  funds 
were  lacking.  To  make  up  the  requisite  amount, 
a  committee  of  ladies  raised  $111,731;  then  one 
of  the  benefactors  of  Bryn  Mawr,  Miss  Mary- 
Garrett,  added  $306,977,  on  condition  that  the 
women  students  admitted  should  pass  the  same 
examinations  and  be  entitled  to  enter  for  all  the 
same  prizes,  dignities,  and  honors  as  their  brothers. 

"  But,"  I  said  to  Dean  Thomas,  admiring  the 
generosity  of  Miss  Garrett,  whom  I  afterwards 
met,  —  and  how  modest,  how  simple,  and  how 
sweet  I  found  her,  somewhat  revolutionary  though 
she  be  in  her  ways !  —  "  bvit_3l1  this  swarm  v^f-fTrtT"" 
cannot  mean  to  study  medicitrer  " 

"  Certainly  not,"  she  answered ;    "  but   a  little 
biojogy  will  do  them  no  harm,  if  it  were  only  to     ■ 

teach  them  many  natural  things  in  a  scientific  aiid 

hence  a  healthy  fi-ih^nn  "     ~~ 

I  thought,  without  venturing  to  express  my 
thought,  that  in  France,  on  the  contrary,  mothers 
and  teachers  bend  all  their  efforts  to  hiding  cer-\ 
tain  natural  things  from  their  daughters  until  the 
day  when  marriage  throws  an  unexpected  light 
upon  them ;  and  I  felt  that  I  was,  indeed,  in  an- 
other world. 

This  impression  was   strengthened   yet  further 
when  I  saw  the  private  apartments  of  the  students. 


176  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

All  the  work  is  done  by  colored  women ;  the  bed- 
rooms and  the  little  parlors  are  as  prettily  fur- 
nished as  in  the  most  elegant  private  house, 
individual  taste  finding  free  vent  here  as  elsewhere. 
(In  one  college,  not  Bryn  Mawr,  I  saw  a  room  deco- 
rated with  the  flags  of  all  nations,  the  bed  being 
skilfully  hidden.)  There  were  plenty  of  tiny  tea- 
tables  set  round  with  be-ribboned  rocking-chairs 
well  supplied  with  cushions;  flowered  curtains  at 
every  window,  plush  curtains  at  the  doors.  The 
reception-room  bore  no  likeness  to  the  gloomy 
parlors  of  Europe;  the  girls  dance  and  sing  in 
it,  and  on  certain  fixed  days  give  small  parties. 

"  Visits  are  only  allowed  until  ten  in  the  even- 
ing," said  my  guide. 

"  Feminine  visits,  of  course?  " 

*'  Oh,  no  !  visits  from  relations  or  friends  of  both 
sexes." 

"What!  with  no  supervision?" 

Miss  Thomas,  who  was  much  amused  by  my 
absurd  questions  and  my  untutored  wonder,  showed 
me  that  opposite  the  large  parlor,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  hall,  was  the  private  sitting-room  of 
the  lady  in  charge  of  that  building.  Neither  of 
the  rooms  had  a  door,  —  nothing  but  open  arch- 
ways and  loose  curtains.  This  is  the  case  with 
almost   all  reception-rooms  in   American  houses, 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  1 77 

the  general  use  of  furnaces  making  this  possible. 
Flirtation,  in  any  case,  is  not  veiled  in  mystery. 

"  There  are  very  few  formal  rules  at  Bryn  Mawr," 
says  Miss  Thomas.  "  The  students  go  to  Philadel- 
phia without  asking  leave  save  out  of  deference ; 
they  never  abuse  this  privilege,  it  being  to  their 
own  interest  not  to  miss  lectures,  because  they 
come  to  college  to  work." 

"  Will  France  ever  have  a  Harvard  Annex  or  a 
Bryn  Mawr?  "  I  ask  myself  this  question  as  the 
evening  train  bears  me  back  to  Philadelphia;  and 
I  feel  that  we  are  terribly  in  the  background.  But 
I  am  seized  with  the  fear  that  once  started,  we  may 
move  a  little  too  quickly  along  paths,  which,  pat- 
terned after  foreign  roads,  without  regard  to  our 
native  obstacles,  are  not  those  best  suited  to  our 
temperament  and  our  powers. 

My  ambition  does  not,  for  instance,  lead  me  to 
wish  for  a  French  Wellesley,  with  its  seven  hun- 
dred students.  This  college  seems  to  me  decidedly 
too  large ;  it  made  me  forcibly  aware  of  the  dan- 
ger which  threatens  the  United  States,  —  too  much 
culture  in  all  ranks  of  society,  since  culture  thus 
spread  broadcast  cannot  be  very  profound.  More- 
over, we  cannot  but  wonder  what  effect  is  produced 
on  girls,  most  of  whom  will  be  obliged  to  earn  their 
own  living,  by  these  four  years  spent  in  the  palace 


1/8  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

of  the  Ideal,  this  intermediate  space  between  the 
mediocrity  of  the  past  and  the  cruelties  of  the 
struggle  for  existence  which  awaits  them.  For 
the  name  of  "  palace,"  or  at  least  of  "  castle,"  is 
excellently  suited  to  Wellesley,  as  it  mirrors  its 
noble  architecture  in  an  enchanting  lake  in  the 
midst  of  a  park  of  some  four  hundred  and  fifty 
acres.  For  the  modest  sum  of  $350,  sometimes 
lessened  by  gifts  or  by  loans  from  an  active  Aid 
Society,  Wellesley  students  enjoy  not  only  every 
means  for  acquiring  a  degree,  or  for  perfecting 
themselves  without  further  object  in  literature,  art, 
and  science,  but  the  pleasures  of  the  material  life 
are  also  lavished  upon  them.  They  find  comfort- 
able shelter  and  the  best  of  fare  in  the  six  pretty 
cottages,  each  under  the  charge  of  a  matron, 
which  are  scattered  around  the  main  buildings,  — 
College  Hall,  the  fine  Art  School,  and  the  Music 
School.  Lake  Waban  is  theirs  to  row  on,  to  hold 
regattas  on  in  summer,  and  to  skate  on  in  winter; 
then  they  are  but  fifteen  miles  from  Boston,  which 
implies  a  constant  series  of  interesting  visits.  On 
the  day  when  I  received  such  cordial  hospitality  at 
Wellesley,  Richard  W.  Gilder,  the  poet,  lectured 
on  President  Lincoln  as  an  orator,  and  other  emi- 
nent guests  sat  down  to  a  luncheon  simply  but 
substantially  served,  —  the  President,  Miss  Helen 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 79 

Shafer,  doing  the  honors,  while  a  company  of  the 
scholars  waited  on  the  table.  The  founder  of 
Wellesley,  H.  F.  Durant,  desired  that  this  should 
be  done,  requesting  that  each  student  should  give 
daily  at  least  forty-five  minutes  to  some  part  of  the 
domestic  labor  in  order  to  glorify  those  useful 
tasks  and  to  prevent  the  claims  of  caste. 

The  beauty  of  the  place  charmed  us  all.  As 
far  as  the  snow  permitted,  and  beneath  a  brilliant 
sun  which  made  it  sparkle  brightly,  we  traversed 
the  vast  park,  which  combines  everything,  —  the 
beauties  of  both  art  and  nature,  hills,  woods, 
meadows,  running  water.  Some  one  ventured  an 
enthusiastic  comparison  between  this  college  and 
that  of  the  princess  who  in  the  English  poem 
gathers  about  her  all  the  young  girls  of  her 
father's  states,  with  the  intention  of  freeing  the 
sex  to  which  she  belongs.  The  similitude  was 
the  more  just,  since  Wellesley  College,  while  it 
does  not  forbid  the  entrance  of  men  on  pain  of 
death,  is  the  only  college  which  is  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  women,  who  are  alone  allowed  to  serve 
as  members  of  the  faculty,  although  there  are  men 
serving  on  the  board  of  administration.  Mr.  Durant 
and  his  wife,  who  survives  him,  have  always  as- 
serted very  decided  opinions  upon  this  point.  The 
history  of  the  foundation  of  the  college  (1875)  is 
both  singular  and  pathetic. 


l80  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

A  famous  lawyer,  heart-broken  at  the  death  of 
his  only  child,  abruptly  left  the  bar,  in  the  prime 
ofslife  and  at  the  height  of  his  triumph,  to  devote 
his  life  to  religious  and  philanthropic  work.  He 
was  inspired  to  insure  to  the  whqle  body  of  the 
young  girls  of  his  native  land  the  benefits  of  an 
education  which  would  fit  them  for  any  career; 
and  in  the  month  of  September,  1871,  the  corner- 
stone of  the  main  building,  College  Hall,  was  laid, 
side  by  side  with  a  Bible. 

College  Hall  is  a  fine  structure,  in  brick  and 
stone,  in  the  shape  of  a  double  Latin  cross.  It  is 
entered  from  a  vast  hall  paved  with  marble,  full  of 
green  foliage  plants,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  stair- 
case rises,  lighted  from  above  in  the  Italian  fashion, 
with  balustrades  and  galleries  on  each  floor.  Pic- 
tures and  statues  abound :  the  statue  of  Harriet 
Martineau,  by  Miss  Whitney,  seems  pointing  the 
way,  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  house,  to  the 
woman  logicians,  economists,  and  reformers  of 
the  future.  The  large  parlor  for  the  use  of  the 
faculty  is  elegantly  adorned.  Another  parlor  is 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Elizabeth  Browning, 
apparently  as  to  the  purest  and  loftiest  of  women 
of  genius;  it  contains  every  known  portrait  and 
bust  of  the  author  of  "  Aurora  Leigh,"  as  well  as 
autograph  manuscript  of  her  husband. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  l8l 

The  magnificent  library  numbers  more  than  forty 
thousand  volumes,  thanks  to  the  generosity  of  Pro- 
fessor Horsford,  of  Cambridge.  The  students  have 
free  access  to  this  library,  which  is  arranged  with 
matchless  system  and  regard  for  individual  wants. 
Numerous  Reviews,  both  English  and  foreign,  may 
be  found  on  special  tables ;  the  same  thing  is  also 
true  of  all  the  other  colleges,  I  should  be  in  dan- 
ger of  constant  repetition  if  I  were  to  name  over 
the  various  clubs  and  societies  to  be  found  in  each 
of  them,  —  the  members  of  these  societies,  which 
bear  names  significant  of  their  object  (Phi  Sigma, 
Zeta  Alpha,  Agora,  etc.),  desiring  to  stimulate  lit- 
erary studies,  or  to  rouse  an  intelligent  interest  in 
the  questions  of  the  day,  or  to  devote  themselves 
to  music  under  the  inspiration  of  Beethoven,  and 
so  on.  As  a  matter  of  course,  there  is  always  a 
Shakespeare  Society,  and  also  a  Christian  Associa- 
tion to  guide  religious  ardor  towards  social  ques- 
tions. The  theatre  too  has  its  devotees  on  the 
plea  of  amusement :  as  we  visited  the  various  floors 
of  the  college  by  the  help  of  the  elevator,  we  came 
across  a  laughing  troop  of  young  actresses,  prettily 
arrayed  for  the  dress  rehearsal  of  a  play. 

In  the  park  there  is  a  Conservatory  of  Music 
containing  forty  pianos,  an  organ,  and  a  recitation 
room  for  the  use  of  choral  classes.     Concerts  over- 


l82  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

flow  into  the  chapel,  always  a  matter  of  scandal  to 
visitors  from  Catholic  countries:  they  should  re- 
member that  to  Protestants  the  church  retains  its 
sacred  character  during  religious  service,  after 
which  it  becomes  a  place  to  be  used  for  any 
purpose. 

The  School  of  Fine  Arts,  built  in  Greek  style, 
crowns  a  hill.  We  can  scarcely  say,  in  spite  of 
the  gifts  which  it  has  received,  that  its  galleries 
are  lined  with  masterpieces;  but  it  is  very  well 
arranged  with  respect  to  lecture  halls  and  studios, 
where  drawing,  painting,  architecture,  and  design- 
ing are  taught.  I  see  among  the  collections  a  case 
filled  with  fine  old  embroideries,  and  I  venture  a 
question  which  receives  the  brief  reply :  "  The  stu- 
dents leave  the  needle  to  the  professional  schools." 

A  full-length  portrait  of  Mrs.  Alice  Freeman 
Palmer,  in  the  Art  Gallery,  is  an  agreeable  re- 
minder of  the  second  president  of  Wellesley,  who 
was  universally  considered  as  a  skilful  organizer. 
Miss  Shafer,  before  she  succeeded  Mrs.  Palmer  in 
office,  was  a  most  successful  teacher  of  mathe- 
matics. Up  to  the  date  of  her  untimely  death, 
which  occurred  soon  after  my  visit  to  Wellesley, 
I  am  told  that  she  held  the  standard  of  classic 
and  scientific  studies  firmly  aloft,  whenever  it  was 
a  question  of  granting  a  diploma,  although  she 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 83 

allowed  great  liberty  in  regard  to  what  are  known 
as  electives.  Let  us  consult  the  ever  eloquent  sta- 
tistics upon  this  head.  Seven  thousand  girls,  in 
the  space  of  some  twenty  years,  have  spent  more 
or  less  time  in  study  at  Wellesley.  Associations 
exist  among  them,  from  one  end  of  the  United 
States  to  the  other,  enabling  us  to  count  up  those 
who  have  turned  their  literary  or  scientific  acquire- 
ments to  advantage ;  and  it  seems  that  their  num- 
ber is  great.  But  university  degrees  were  won 
by  only  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven  students; 
of  this  number  five  hundred  are  teachers  and 
professors,  twenty  or  more  are  missionaries,  some 
dozen  are  doctors,  and  about  as  many  journalists. 
One  hundred  of  them  have  clung  to  family  life. 

I  had  no  opportunity  to  visit  Vassar  College,  — 
which,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  is  oldest  of  all,  —  nor 
Smith,  founded  ten  years  later,  about  the  same 
time  as  Wellesley,  and  about  as  large  as  that. 
Among  establishments  of  recent  date,  the  College 
of  Baltimore,  opened  in  1888  under  the  patronage 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  seemed  to  me 
destined  to  the  largest  measure  of  success.  The 
charming  capital  of  Maryland,  where  it  is  situated, 
affords  many  advantages,  —  a  very  mild  climate, 
cultivated  society,  the  neighborhood  of  a  univer- 
sity, abundant  libraries,  art    galleries  like  that  of 


1 84  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Mr.  Walters,  which  is  open  to  the  public  on  stated 
days  and  combines  a  large  number  of  the  finest 
masterpieces  of  the  modern  French  school,  and 
lastly  the  Conservatory  of  Music,  due  with  so  many 
other  gifts  to  the  munificence  of  George  Peabody. 
The  construction  of  the  Woman's  College  also  tes- 
tifies to  that  private  generosity  so  commonly  found 
in  America.  The  Rev.  John  Goucher  erected  the 
impressive  hall  in  Roman  style,  where  laboratories 
occupy  an  entire  floor,  the  rest  being  devoted  to 
classes,  assembly  rooms,  collections  of  minerals, 
botanical  and  paleontological  specimens,  etc.  Mr. 
B.  F.  Bennett,  in  memory  of  his  wife,  added  the 
massive  edifice  in  the  same  style  devoted  to  phys- 
ical culture,  and  containing  a  swimming-bath  and 
gymnasium  constructed  after  Swedish  methods, 
which  bid  fair  to  oust  German  methods  throughout 
America.  The  teachers  in  charge  of  the  gymna- 
sium are  from  the  Royal  Institute  at  Stockholm,  and 
the  famous  Zander  apparatus  is  used  to  correct  by 
proper  movements  any  weakness  or  deformity  in 
the  pupil.  Once  a  year  the  progress  made  in  lung 
capacity  and  muscular  power  is  measured. 

Two  separate  buildings  afford  the  students  some- 
thing very  like  family  life.  I  notice,  when  I  go 
through  them,  that  the  dining-rooms  as  well  as  the 
kitchens  are  situated  on  the  top  floor,  to  avoid  all 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  18$ 

odors;  elevators  running  constantly  prevent  any 
inconvenience  which  might  otherwise  arise  from  this 
plan.  The  girls  eat  at  small  tables  seating  eight. 
I  talk  with  some  of  them,  pretty  as  all  Baltimore 
women  are  reputed  to  be,  and  possessed  of  a 
vivacity  and  grace  which  are  decidedly  Southern. 
There  is  no  shadow  in  them  of  that  somewhat 
haughty  pedantry  which  I  sometimes  observed  in 
the  North.  Then,  too,  they  have  greater  skill  in 
turning  a  compliment  I  have  reached  the  South ; 
I  already  feel  the  affinities  which  exist  between  this 
part  of  America  and  France. 

In  spite  of  the  religious  influences  which  reigned 
over  the  foundation  of  the  college,  there  is  almost 
as  much  personal  liberty  here  as  anywhere  else. 
While  there  is  a  rule  forbidding  the  students  to 
attend  theatres  or  balls,  drink  wine,  or  play  cards, 
the  girls  are  permitted  to  give  a  monthly  party 
under  the  direction  of  the  lady  in  charge  of  the 
housekeeping,  and  each  girl  is  allowed  to  invite 
one  or  more  friends. 

Food  and  lodging  cost  two  hundred  dollars  a 
year;  tuition,  one  hundred  dollars,  not  including 
accomplishments,  with  ten  dollars  extra  for  the 
use  of  laboratory  apparatus.  Of  course,  only  a 
college  very  richly  endowed  could  give  so  much 
for  so   small   a   price.     The  beautiful   Methodist 


1 86  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

Episcopal  Church  in  Baltimore  serves  as  the  col- 
lege chapel,  there  being  a  private  passage  between 
the  church  and  Goucher  Hall.  The  campanile  is  a 
more  or  less  faithful  copy  of  San  Vitale  ;  and  amid 
all  these  structures  of  Lombard  architecture  in 
rough-hewn  granite,  it  is  indeed  fine,  solid,  and 
severe  of  aspect.  A  preparatory  school,  known 
as  the  Latin  School,  thrives  close  by  the  college, 
under  the  same  rule. 

At  Baltimore  I  also  found  the  excellent  prepara- 
tory school  of  Bryn  Mawr,  which  takes  pupils  as 
young  as  eight  or  nine,  and  carries  them  to  the 
very  door  of  the  college.  I  got  there  just  before 
a  talk  on  hygiene,  and  I  admired  the  way  in  which 
practice  is  combined  with  theory.  These  young 
day-scholars  have  their  swimming-school;  they 
take  lessons  in  fencing,  and  practise  archery. 
Their  vacations  are  longer  than  is  usual  in  France. 
I  am  therefore  struck  by  their  healthy  looks,  which 
in  the  future  some  will  lose  by  too  much  brain- 
work  or  too  much  social  dissipation.  They  also 
seem  to  me,  I  must  say,  less  well  bred  than 
European  school-girls  of  the  same  age.  English 
travellers  in  America  have  always  noted  the  tire- 
some exuberance  of  the  children,  accustomed 
to  rank  as  important  personages.  This  remark 
proves  that  English  children  are  timid  and  strictly 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  1 87 

governed;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  inevitable 
individuality  does  not  wait  many  years  "before  it 
asserts  itself  in  the  small  American,  and  more 
particularly  in  the  small  American  girl.  But  let 
us  return  to  the  universities  towards  which  this 
rising  generation  will  eagerly  tend. 

There  are  now  in  the  United  States  (since  the 
triumph  of  the  Union,  the  South  has  taken  a  large 
part  in  the  educational  movement)  one  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  colleges  for  women,  in  the  sense 
which  the  English  language  attributes  to  that  word 
"  college,"  which  has  nothing  in  common  with 
French  establishments  of  secondary  instruction,  — 
one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  colleges  conferring 
degrees.  These  colleges  number  24,851  students 
and  2,299  professors,  —  577  of  whom  are  men,  and 
1,648  are  women.^  The  predominance  of  women 
does  not  lower  the  standard,  if  I  am  to  believe  the 
best  judges.  They  are  of  the  opinion  that  there  is 
in  feminine  teaching  greater  method,  which  makes 
up  for  the  power  of  improvisation,  the  species  of 
personal  genius  which  insure  the  superiority  of 
masculine  teachers.  Moreover,  there  is  no  spirit 
of  unfriendly  rivalry  between  the  professors  of  the 
two  sexes,  —  a  thing  to  be  explained  briefly  thus : 

1  Not  all  have  the  title  of  "  professor ; "  there  are  also  "  teachers  " 
or  "  instructors." 


1 88  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

the  field  is  not  crowded ;  the  sum  total  just  quoted 
proves  this.  Many  college  professors  are  obliged 
to  add  to  their  already  overwhelming  work  the 
care  of  preparatory  classes,  and  the  crowd  of 
aspirants  for  the  higher  studies  is  always  growing. 
This  passionate  attack  upon  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge fills  Frenchwomen  with  humiliation  when 
they  chance  to  witness  it.  How  many  of  us  know 
enough  to  enter  college?  But  we  make  it  up  in 
regard  to  history.  American  women,  and  many 
American  men  too,  seemed  to  me  very  ill-ac- 
quainted with  history,  as  soon  as  they  stepped 
aside  from  that  of  their  own  country  and  of  Eng- 
land, which  is  directly  connected  with  it.  But  our 
self-love  need  not  take  fire.  I  am  disposed  to  be- 
lieve that  the  very  consciousness  of  our  lack  of 
knowledge  is  in  its  way  a  kind  of  superiority.  A 
distinguished  professor,  talking  with  me  of  these 
matters,  pointed  this  out  to  me :  "  Yes,  the  edu- 
cation of  our  women  includes  many  more  subjects 
than  yours,  —  it  includes  far  too  many ;  it  is  like 
an  unfinished  sketch,  without  shadow  or  details. 
They  are  certainly  better  at  mathematics,  —  there 
is  no  room  for  doubting  that,  —  and  they  learn  the 
dead  languages ;  but  I  doubt  whether  in  most  cases 
they  derive  much  benefit  from  that,  except  to  suc- 
ceed, in  passing  examinations.     Here  we  are  unfor- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  1 89 

tunately  compelled  to  put  ourselves  within  reach 
of  a  certain  mediocrity  sure  of  itself,  and  certain 
that  there  is  nothing  beyond  its  comprehension. 
An  American  woman  without  over-weening  pre- 
tensions is  the  first  among  women ;  but  nowadays 
we  should  have  to  sift  them  well  to  find  one  who 
does  not  aspire  to  everything." 

It  is  very  rarely,  I  admit,  that  an  American 
expresses  himself  thus  freely  in  regard  to  his 
learned  fellow-countrywomen.  At  most  they  will 
say,  in  speaking  of  this  rage  for  culture :  "  It  is  a 
moment  of  transition  in  some  ways  unfavorable  to 
family  life ;  but  who  knows  whether,  after  the  in- 
evitable tentative  essays,  we  shall  not  benefit  by 
it?  Who  knows  whether  the  result  may  not  be 
a  woman  far  more  perfect  than  any  in  the  past?  " 

One  can  never  guess  just  what  lurks  behind  the 
humorous  half  smile  of  an  American ;  these  words 
which  I  also  caught  seemed,  however,  to  imply  a 
regret  and  a  threat.  "  Everything  moves  quickly 
with  women.  Fifteen  years  ago,  colleges  for 
women  were  attacked  as  vigorously  as  their  right 
to  vote  is  now.  Well,  their  colleges  work  wonder- 
fully well  after  all.  Let  us  only  hope  that  they 
will  not  go  too  far,  for  their  own  sake ;  they  may 
end  by  being  so  strong  and  so  well  armed  that 
we  shall  have  no  further  cause  to  show  ourselves 


I90  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

chivalric  in  regard  to  them,  since  your  French 
politeness  awards  us  that  flattering  epithet.  And 
the  day  that  we  cease  to  protect  them,  they  will 
undoubtedly  see  that  although  they  have  more 
university  degrees  and  political  rights,  they  are 
far  worse  off  than  before." 

These  are  very  mild  criticisms;  but  I  would  not 
for  the  world  reveal  the  names  of  those  from  whose 
mouths  they  fell,  not  wishing  those  rash  men  to  be 
rent  by  furies.  We  may  truly  say  of  America  that 
"  it  is  forbidden  there  to  strike  a  woman  even 
with  a  flower."  When  I  expressed  my  surprise, 
on  two  or  three  occasions,  at  the  liberty  that 
prevails  in  these  colleges,  men,  without  exception, 
always  answered  dryly  that  at  the  age  the  students 
had  reached  —  sixteen  or  seventeen  at  least  —  be- 
fore entering  upon  college  life,  they  ought  to  know 
how  to  behave.  The  watchfulness,  the  restrictions 
thought  needful  in  the  convents  and  boarding- 
schools  of  our  Old  World  would  be  a  gratuitous 
insult  in  the  colleges  of  the  New  World.  The 
blameless  conduct  which  distinguishes  the  woman 
student  in  her  class-room  she  retains  in  all  the 
details  of  her  life ;  to  doubt  this  would  be  to  doubt 
the  benefits  of  the  whole  system  of  education  which 
governs  America,  and  which  is  based  upon  self- 
respect.     In  no  country  is  there  a  stronger  feel- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  I9I 

ing  of  fellowship  among  women;  in  no  country- 
are  individual  friendships  nobler  and  more  de- 
voted. So  I  am  told,  and  I  believe  it;  I  often 
had  proof  of  it.  It  is  certainly  to  be  desired  that 
the  same  solidarity  might  exist  between  French- 
women of  all  ranks  in  society.  But  there  is  an- 
other side  to  the  picture,  and  it  is  sometimes 
impossible  to  avoid  seeing  it. 

Co-education.  —  Galesburg,  Illinois. 

We  have  yet  to  make  acquaintance  with  those 
colleges  where  the  system  of  co-education  prevails, 
—  a  system  stranger  to  foreign  eyes  than  aught 
else.  These  colleges  are  to  be  found  almost  ex- 
clusively in  the  West.  A  jnan  of  high  rank  in  the 
department  of  Public  Education  spoke  to  me  in 
terms  of  the  utmost  praise  of  the  results  obtained  " 
from  first  to  last  under  this  system  of  co-educa- 
tion, which  has  lately  been  the  subject  of  such  hot 
discussion  in  France,  where,  of  course,  it  could 
not  possibly  be  used  without  a  complete  change 
of  customs  and  manners.  Mr.  William  T.  Harris, 
Commissioner  of  Education  at  Washington  (he 
will  pardon  me  for  using  his  name),  believes  that 
the  fact  of  living  together  from  earliest  childhood, 
in  the  kindergarten  and  primary  school,  renders 
boys  and  girls  less  susceptible  to  the  attraction  of 


192  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

sex.  He  has  noticed  that  the  rivalry  established 
between  them  accustoms  the  girls,  who  often  out- 
rank the  boys,  to  set  little  or  no  value  upon  block- 
heads, even  if  they  be  handsome.  Moreover,  they 
may  have  brothers  in  college,  who  protect  them ;" 
and  the  greater  part  of  their  comrades  have  a 
genuinely  fraternal  feeling  for  them,  —  their  com- 
radeship having  always  existed,  and  the  change 
from  childhood  to  youth  having  come  upon  them 
almost  unconsciously.  An  important  fact  asserted 
by  Mr.  Harris  is  that  though  some  cases  of  miscon- 
duct may  have  accidentally  occurred  in  the  schools 
for  girls,  they  are  unknown  in  the  mixed  schools. 
The  former  apparently  admit  of  far  greater  freedom  ; 
the  latter  require  from  their  girl  pupils  a  reserve 
only  equalled  by  the  respectful  timidity  of  the 
other  sex,  accustomed  as  boys  are  not  elsewhere  to 
take  the  intellectual  worth  of  women  into  account 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  have  any  personal 
opinion  on  these  questions ;  I  merely  discovered 
that  our  European  prejudices  are  shared  in  the  great 
Eastern  cities.  At  Chicago,  I  saw  scarcely  more 
than  the  outside  of  the  gorgeous  university  founded 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  Baptist  Church ;  and  it 
seemed  to  me  too  new  to  be  altogether  vener- 
able as  yet,  thoroughly  provided  though  it  may 
be  with  everything  which  money  can  buy.     Per- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  193 

haps  the  story  of  a  week  or  two  passed  in  a  prairie 
college,  that  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  will  show  my 
readers,  better  than  anything  else  I  might  say,  the 
system  of  co-education  in  its  most  interesting  form. 
The  aspect  of  the  college  is  inseparable  in  my 
memory  from  that  of  the  little  town  and  its  in- 
habitants. I  will  therefore  set  down  some  frag- 
ments from  the  journal  whose  pages  I  then  filled 
every  night. 

It  is  about  five  hours'  journey  from  Chicago  to 
Galesburg.  I  am  the  guest  of  one  of  the  college 
professors,  who,  like  all  Americans,  is  loyal  to  the 
principle,  "  The  friends  of  our  friends  are  our 
friends  too."  Rich  or  poor,  they  invite  you,  on 
this  excuse,  to  share  their  family  life  as  easily 
as  we  invite  a  friend  to  dinner. 

The  house  is  a  plain  wooden  one ;  it  stands  at 
the  extreme  edge  of  the  town.  The  fence  built 
about  it  opens  on  the  street  which  leads  to  the 
college,  —  a  road  planted  with  rock-maples,  and 
with  plank  sidewalks  on  either  side.  Three  or  four 
rooms  on  the  ground  floor,  with  as  many  above 
them,  —  no  more ;  but  this  modest  interior  at  the 
first  glance  suggests  ideas  of  order,  scrupulous 
neatness,  and  studious  retirement.  On  the  dining- 
room  wall  hangs  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  ornamental 

13 


194  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

script.     The  library  is  adorned  with  books  which 
overflow  into  every  room  in  the  house.     There  are 
no  mirrors  in  the  tiny  parlor,  only  the  simplest  fur- 
niture, a  few  good  engravings,  family  photographs, 
and  flowers ;  a  rare  dignity  prevails.     This  is  the 
setting  for  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  vigorous 
figures  that  I  ever  saw,  —  that  of  an  old  man  robust 
as  any  youth,  an  unselfish  scholar,  whose  well-filled 
life  has  been  consecrated  from  beginning  to  end, 
in  spite  of  the  counsels  of  ambition,  to  this   col- 
lege ;    he  may  well  be  called   one  of  its   pillars. 
Beside  him  is  his  wife,  delicate  and  shy,  whose  face 
still  bears  traces  of  one  of  those  ethereal  beauties 
such  as  we  find,  exquisitely  engraved,  in  English 
"  books  of  beauty."     By  the  way  that  the  house- 
hold is  conducted,  with  the  aid  of  but  one  small 
black  girl,  I  see  that  there  are  good  housekeepers 
in  the  West.    The  professor  holds  to  old-fashioned 
ways:    nowhere  else  did  I  find  so  perfect  an   in- 
stance of  the  Puritan  family,  as  I  had  imagined  it. 
The  husband  and  father  is  still  master  here,  and  a 
tyrannical    master   too ;    the  wife  submits  with   a 
grace  and  sweetness  not  especially  American ;  the 
daughter  is  respectful  and  reserved.     And  yet  she 
has  a  high  degree  of  culture,  as  proved  by  her 
diplomas ;  she  teaches  in  the  college,  and  has  un- 
dertaken, with  girl  friends,  what  her  parents  never 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  I95 

did,  —  a  journey  to  Europe,  after  which  her  life  of 
retirement  and  toil  seemed  no  harder  to  her  than 
before.  Everything  (bread,  clothes,  etc.)  is  made  in 
the  house ;  of  course  the  mother  must  lend  a  hand. 
The  fare  is  plain,  but  abundant ;  temperance  is  not 
only  preached  but  literally  practised  in  regard  to 
fermented  liquor.  The  father  pronounces  a  bene- 
diction upon  every  meal. 

The  history  of  Knox  College  at  Galesburg,  as  it 
was  told  to  me,  has  some  unique  features.  A  band 
of  patriotic  and  Christian  pioneers  laid  its  founda- 
tions. It  was  their  avowed  purpose  to  create  a 
college  which  should  furnish  well-trained  recruits 
for  the  evangelical  ministry,  and  make  women 
worthy  teachers  of  the  future  generation.  January 
7,  1836,  a  meeting  was  held  at  Whitesborough  (New 
York  State) ;  it  was  voted  to  raise  the  sum  of 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  the  price  paid  for  fifteen 
thousand  acres  of  land,  the  sale  of  which  repre- 
sented the  first  gift  to  the  college;  and  in  the 
spring  of  the  same  year  the  colonists,  headed  by 
the  Rev.  George  Gale,  the  prime  mover  in  the 
scheme  and  leader  of  the  colony  to  which  he  gave 
his  name,  turned  their  steps  towards  the  prairie. 
In  the  autumn  thirty  families,  forming  a  homo- 
geneous nucleus  springing  from  the  Pilgrim  fathers 
of  old,  had  already  built  rude  cabins  on  the  spot 


196  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

where  the  city  was  to  rise  later  on.  In  1837  ^ 
charter  was  obtained  for  the  establishment  of  the 
college,  and  at  the  end  of  1838'  the  college  opened 
with  forty  students.  There  are  now  six  hundred. 
The  present  buildings  were  not  finished  until  1837; 
and  during  the  same  year  a  seminary,  where  girls 
are  lodged,  was  built.  Since  then  a  gymnasium 
and  an  observatory  have  been  constructed,  and  in 
1890  the  corner-stone  of  the  structure  known  as 
Alumni  Hall  was  laid  by  President  Harrison,  with 
words  which  linger  in  the  memories  of  all:  "  Once 
more  we  dedicate  this  institution,  already  sacred  to 
truth,  purity,  loyalty,  and  love  of  God."  The  col- 
lege has  had  intelligent  and  zealous  benefactors. 
One  of  them,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  gave  the  college  such 
part  of  his  property  as  his  wife  might  not  require  for 
her  own  use ;  and  Mrs.  Hitchcock,  with  equal  gen- 
erosity, gave  up  what  the  law  allowed  her,  in  order 
that  her  husband's  wishes  might  be  carried  out, 
and  herself  took  up  her  abode  in  a  cottage  at 
Galesburg. 

A  Morning  Visit  to  Alumni  Hall. 

The  building,  of  Roman  architecture,  in  brick 
and  red  sandstone,  is  very  handsome.  The  audi- 
torium, daily  used  as  chapel,  holds  nearly  a  thou- 
sand persons.     Morning  prayer  calls  together  the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  I97 

entire  college,  and  the  professors  take  turns  in 
reading  the  Bible,  which  is  followed  by  a  brief 
address.  I  hear  the  professor  of  English  literature 
speak  upon  "  Comparisons,"  d,  propos  of  the  mote 
and  the  beam  of  the  Scriptures.  This  custom  does 
not  exist  in  the  State  universities ;  it  seems  to 
me  to  contribute  largely  to  the  moral  atmosphere 
of  Galesburg. 

We  visit  the  town,  which  is  charming  with  its 
shady  avenues  and  its  verdant  boulevards.  It  cov- 
ers a  vast  extent,  trees  and  gardens  occupying  much 
space.  Green  trees  surround  the  principal  build- 
ings. There  are  a  few  mercantile  streets,  but  they 
are  quietly  busy,  as  befits  a  town  where  trade  is 
only  a  secondary  matter,  which  has  never  cared 
for  anything  but  religion  and  learning.  The  ele- 
gant quarter  is  filled  with  very  pretty  middle-class 
houses,  mostly  of  painted  wood,  but  of  every  archi- 
tectural style.  Lawns  encircle  them;  they  seem 
indeed  to  be  scattered  over  a  meadow.  The  entire 
town  is  scrupulously  neat,  with  the  hideous  side- 
walks which  everywhere  in  America,  in  the  streets, 
parks,  and  outside  the  houses,  enable  the  foot- 
passenger  to  avoid  mud  or  dust,  according  to  the 
season.  Some  streets  are  paved  with  improved 
bricks.  The  interiors,  seen  through  bow-windows 
adorned    with    flowers,   are   pleasantly    homelike. 


198  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

We  visit  a  suburb  made  up  of  tiny  houses  painted 
in  bright  colors,  well  varnished,  like  brand-new 
toys  ;  this  is  the  Swedish  quarter.  These  worthy 
people  form  a  very  important  part  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  soon  grow  rich  by  their  industrious  habits. 

There  is  an  immense  parade  ground  for  three 
companies  of  soldiers  commanded  by  an  officer  of 
the  United  States  army,  sent  here  to  teach  military 
science  and  tactics.  Military  drill  is  obligatory, 
each  student  being  required  to  provide  a  uniform. 

There  are  many  churches,  representing  every 
Protestant  sect,  and  also,  in  the  form  of  a  minute  frac- 
tion. Catholic  worship.  The  college  was  founded 
through  the  efforts  and  sacrifices  of  the  Congre- 
gationalist  and  Presbyterian  churches ;  their  in- 
fluence is  therefore  dominant  in  the  board  of 
government.  But  there  is  no  narrowness  ;  a  genu- 
ine Christian  spirit  is  alone  required  as  the  funda- 
mental and  indispensable  basis  of  education  at 
Knox.  Students  attend  their  respective  churches 
on  Sunday. 

I  attend  the  class  in  Latin,  taught  by  a  young 
girl  with  expressive  and  resolute  features,  who 
seems  to  exert  a  great  influence  over  her  scholars. 
She  has  almost  as  many  boys  as  girls  in  her  class. 
Although  it  is  not  required  by  any  rule,  the  two 
sexes  are  divided,  and  are  seated  on  separate  sides 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  1 99 

of  the  room.  The  girls  are  usually  more  advanced  ; 
they  smile  somewhat  mischievously  at  every  mis- 
take made  by  the  boys,  who  seem  equally  glad  to 
catch  them  at  fault.  There  is  no  coquetry  on  the 
one  hand,  no  gallantry  on  the  other.  I  notice  the 
sunburnt  hue,  the  rustic  air  of  many  of  the  students, 
-^-  grown  men  ;  their  pleasant  faces  express  both 
energy  and  openness.  I  am  told  that  they  come 
from  remote  parts  of  the  West,  and  that  before 
entering  college  they  earned  the  requisite  amount 
of  money  by  manual  labor.  The  keeper  of  a  large 
shop  said  to  me  as  we  travelled  in  company:  "  I 
once  travelled  all  over  this  part  of  the  country  on 
foot,  with  a  bale  of  goods  on  my  back,  in  my 
vacation ;  and  I  did  that  year  after  year,  to  pay 
my  way  through  college.  They  used  to  call  me 
the  honest  little  pedler."  And  it  was  plain  that 
this  was  one  of  the  most  agreeable  things  that  had 
ever  been  said  of  him,  although  he  had  since  won 
great  success.  Many  of  the  pupils  at  Knox  College 
are  of  the  same  substantial  stuff.  These  backward 
fellows  sometimes  prove  themselves  possessed  of 
superior  and  truly  original  talents.  Several  were 
pointed  out  to  me  who,  during  the  Chicago  exhi- 
bition, without  any  false  modesty,  spent  their  ten 
weeks'  vacation  as  waiters  in  various  restaurants  at 
the  Fair,  or  in  pushing  wheeled  chairs.     And  now 


200  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

they  are  here,  deep  in  the  ^neid.  The  merry, 
kindly  influence  of  the  girls  upon  this  set  of  coun- 
try lads  is  of  the  happiest  sort.  The  spur  of 
rivalry  urges  them  on;  they  are  ashamed  to  be 
outrun  by  their  more  delicate  mates  ;  and,  more- 
over, feminine  goodness  almost  unconsciously 
refines  them.  If  the  professor  who  teaches  chem- 
istry with  rare  spirit  and  clearness  did  not  choose 
the  girls  as  the  subject  of  his  questions  during  my 
visit,  in  order  to  show  a  stranger  (very  incapable 
of  judging)  how  much  they  know,  I  think  the 
boys  might  possibly  have  the  advantage  here. 
But  I  have  preconceived  notions  on  this  head, 
which  the  aptitudes  of  American  women  appar- 
ently prove  to  be  mistaken  ones. 

Am  invited  to  several  houses  in  the  town,  where 
I  find  the  best  of  company,  —  women  simple,  and 
at  the  same  time  well  informed,  talking  on  all  sub- 
jects, and  asking  intelligent  questions.  Evidently 
contact  with  the  college  is  a  constant  stimulus, 
and  the  society  of  the  professors  a  precious 
resource.  Some  have  travelled ;  but  they  are  not 
possessed  by  that  feverish  desire  for  change  which 
I  have  remarked  elsewhere  ;  nor  is  there  any  trace 
of  pretence  or  affectation,  —  which  is  restful.  The 
diversity  of  religious  denominations  in  this  little 
town,  which  is  so  devout  as  a  whole,  is  singular. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  20I 

At  a  certain  lunch  I  met  half-a-dozen  ladies,  all  very- 
intimate,  although  belonging  to  different  churches. 
Opposite  me  sat  a  Baptist,  and  at  my  side  a  pleas- 
ant Universalist,  whose  religion  I  like,  because  it 
allows  her  to  be  as  sure  of  my  eternal  salvation  as 
of  her  own.     Universalists  condemn  no  one. 

I  continue  to  visit  college  classes  taught  by 
women.  They  hold  only  the  secondary  rank  of 
instructors.  Knox  College  maintains  the  suprem- 
acy of  its  professors  with  jealous  care,  priding  it- 
self on  possessing  a  body  of  teachers  which  could 
not  easily  be  matched  throughout  the  West  The 
French  lessons  attract  me.  Just  now  the  pupils 
are  reading,  translating,  and  expounding  Victor 
Hugo's  plays.  They  are  at  work  on  "  Hernani," 
and  nothing  could  be  funnier  than  the  accent 
given  to  those  impassioned  verses,  those  Spanish 
titles,  over  which  they  stammer  and  bungle.  But 
they  understand  enough,  I  fancy,  to  consider 
Hernani  quite  mad.  I  afford  them  genuine  satis- 
faction by  telling  them  that  even  in  France  such 
sentiments  seem  somewhat  exaggerated.  Among 
those  who  are  evidently  on  the  rack  during  the 
ticklish  scene  of  the  portraits,  are  some  of  those 
handsome,  sunburned,  firm,  and  frank  youths  of 
whom  I  have  already  spoken,  —  young  giants  come 
hither  from  distant  farms,  who  have  deserted  the 


202  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

ploughshare  for  their  books.  One  of  them  hesi- 
tatingly addresses  me,  and  asks  with  eager  curiosity 
if  it  be  really  true  that  the  admiration  of  the 
French  for  so  great  a  man  as  Napoleon  is  dying 
out.  Emboldened  by  my  answer,  he  next  ex- 
presses his  conviction,  shared  by  many  others, 
that  an  obscure  soldier  was  shot  in  place  of  Marshal 
Ney,  and  that  the  latter  took  refuge  in  America. 
The  questions  of  the  girls  refer  to  far  more  personal 
matters.  What  they  want  to  know  is  whether  the 
education  of  women  in  France  makes  any  progress ; 
if  French  girls  are  still  shut  up  in  convents ;  if  it 
is  true  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  co-education 
in  France ! 

A  very  pleasing  young  woman  is  the  professor 
of  elocution  and  the  Delsarte  system,  which  teaches 
the  art  of  graceful  gestures  and  attitudes,  readily 
assumed  by  the  girls,  but  imitated  with  most  amus- 
ing painstaking  awkwardness  by  the  boys.  One 
morning  I  drop  into  a  class  where  I  find  five  or  six 
men  gathered  about  the  desk  of  a  young  woman. 
She  is  teaching  contemporary  and  political  history 
and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  She 
seems  prettily  embarrassed  by  her  task,  and  leads 
the  conversation  with  the  tact  of  an  intelligent 
hostess,  encouraging  the  discussion  of  serious' 
subjects  rather  than  herself  taking  part  in  it. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  203 

Supper  at  the  Setninary.  —  The  students  who 
do  not  belong  to  the  town  almost  all  live  here. 
Around  the  table  are  the  professors,  men  and 
women,  with  a  few  guests.  The  dining-room  in 
which  we  are,  opens  into  another  much  larger 
room,  where  the  pupils  are  "seated  in  groups  of  six 
or  eight  at  little  tables.  The  principal  presides. 
A  small  number  of  students  come  from  outside  to 
take  their  meals  with  the  girls.  After  supper,  in 
the  fine,  large  parlor,  all  the  pupils  are  presented 
to  me,  one  after  the  other.  There  is  a  long  pro- 
cession of  very  varied  types,  often  most  pleasant 
to  look  upon.  They  come  from  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  —  from  Kansas,  Colorado,  Califor- 
nia, Texas,  and  I  know  not  where.  I  am  told  not 
only  their  names,  but  also  their  native  State. 
Several  come  from  Utah,  from  Salt  Lake  City. 
I  shudder,  imagining  myself  in  the  presence  of 
Mormons;  and  they  laugh,  explaining  that  their 
parents  are  "  Gentiles."  Moreover,  the  Mormons 
have  lately  renounced  polygamy,  which  involved 
them  in  too  many  difficulties.  The  evening  ends 
with  a  concert.  The  orchestra  is  ably  conducted. 
Fragments  from  "  Carmen "  are  played  in  my 
honor. 

I  have  promised  to  spend  the  afternoon  at  a 
large  farm  in  the  neighborhood.     In  America  all 


204  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

country  estates  are  known  as  "  farms."  In  his 
excess  of  hospitality  the  farmer  proprietor  comes 
for  me  himself  in  his  buggy.  Borne  along  by  two 
stout  horses,  we  roll  across  the  prairie,  breathing 
in  a  soft  and  velvety  air  which,  before  the  wintry 
blasts  appear,  forms  a  part  of  the  exquisite  season 
so  well  named  "  Indian  summer."  The  landscape 
with  its  monotony  is  new  to  me,  who  never  saw 
the  steppes.  It  is  the  vast  prairie,  rolling  in  little 
short  waves,  and  broken  only  by  fences,  —  the 
sometimes  straight  and  sometimes  zigzag  barriers 
which  throughout  America  divide  the  fields  and 
restrain  the  cattle.  The  silvery  color  assumed 
with  age  by  the  wood  of  which  they  are  made 
harmonizes  admirably  with  the  brownish  tint  of 
the  soil.  The  corn  has  been  gathered  in ;  only 
the  stalks  and  the  long  leaves  collected  in  shocks 
for  the  cattle  remain.  Here  and  there,  where  trees 
have  been  felled,  the  stumps  are  rotting  in  strange 
long  rows,  no  one  taking  the  trouble  to  root  them 
up.  These  stumps  bristling  through  the  freshly 
tilled  land  are  a  common  feature  of  the  American 
landscape. 

The  farmhouse  to  which  we  are  bent  stands  in 
the  midst  of  three  thousand  acres,  partly  cultivated 
and  partly  prairie.  We  stop  before  a  wooden 
house,  built  after  the  usual   plan,  with    a  stoop, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  20$ 

the  movable  step  leading  up  to  it,  and  the  indis- 
pensable sidewalks.  The  mistress  of  the  mansion 
comes  forward  to  meet  us.  Nothing  in  her  recep- 
tion betrays  a  shadow  of  provincial  ceremony. 
She  leads  us  into  a  parlor  furnished  in  black  hair- 
cloth, and  the  conversation  soon  turns  upon  inter- 
esting topics.  We  are  told  that  two  days  earlier 
the  farm  would  have  afforded  us  a  curious  sight. 
Herders  from  the  Mormon  country  stopped  there 
with  eighty  thousand  sheep,  which  they  were  driv- 
ing to  the  Chicago  market.  The  bleating  troop 
besieged  the  house  with  the  noise  of  an  invading 
army.  Now  we  shall  see  only  the  offspring  of  the 
farm,  —  horses  and  cows,  scattered  over  the  vast 
extent. 

About  one  o'clock  dinner  is  served;  a  purely 
American  dinner,  —  soup  made  of  canned  oysters, 
roast  meats,  stewed  corn,  raw  celery,  rhubarb  pie, 
native  grapes  which  taste  like  black  currants, 
hickory-nuts,  and  tea  or  coffee  by  way  of  bever- 
age. Two  young  girls  wait  on  the  table ;  they  are 
introduced  to  me  as  the  daughters  of  the  house. 
They  must  needs  assist  in  the  work  of  the  house- 
hold during  one  of  those  domestic  crises  so  fre- 
quent in  the  West,  and  to  some  extent  everywhere. 
The  refusal  of  Irish  and  Swedish  servants  to  eat  at 
the  same  table  with  negroes  complicates  the  diffi- 


206  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

culty  still  more.  Self-help  is  therefore  obligatory. 
The  tasks  accomplished  by  these  young  girls  do 
not  however  prevent  them  from  going  to  school 
in  town  every  day ;  they  drive  themselves  in  their 
own  little  carriage.  As  we  chat,  I  discover  that 
the  life  of  a  farmer's  wife  is  somewhat  hard  in 
America,  where  the  clearings  are  so  far  apart  and 
on  so  vast  a  scale  that  there  are  no  small  matters 
to  be  looked  after.  There  are  no  neighbors  and 
no  amusements.  But  in  winter,  at  Galesburg,  the 
farmer's  wife  finds  compensations.  She  belongs  to 
a  literary  club;  all  the  ladies  are  members  of  it; 
accordingly  they  can  do  a  great  deal  of  reading  in 
summer  on  the  subjects  proposed  for  future  meet- 
ings. I  inquire  as  to  these  subjects,  and  they  tell  me 
of  some  of  them,  —  troubadours  and  trouv^res  (the 
Romance  tongues  are  in  high  favor  in  the  United 
States,  and  many  persons  who  cannot  speak  French 
fluently  go  into  ecstasies  over  our  old  Provencal 
literature) ;  the  influence  of  the  salon  in  the  seven- 
teenth century;  Frenchwomen  in  politics;  origin 
of  Greek  art,  etc.  Such  interest  in  things  of  the 
Old  World  is  hardly  credible  in  a  prairie  village ; 
for  a  town  of  eighteen  thousand  inhabitants  is 
scarcely  more  than  a  village  in  the  United  States. 
But  this  particular  village  most  assuredly  has  a 
soul  superior  in  quality  to  that  of  many  big  cities. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  20/ 

One  of  the  party  tells  us  of  a  recent  visit  to  the 
Indian  Territory,  which  lies  between  Missouri  and 
Texas.  The  government  having  bought  the  land 
from  the  Indians,  granted  it  to  the  first  comers. 
The  result  was  that  an  army  of  riders  appeared 
from  all  the  region  round  about.  The  narrator 
showed  us  instantaneous  photographs  which  give 
an  idea  of  the  mad  race,  favored  by  the  flat  coun- 
try, and  of  the  victory  won  at  headlong  speed. 
We  also  saw  the  victor  resting,  seated  on  the 
ground,  in  the  fresh  enjoyment  of  his  estate, — 
a  land-owner  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  but 
half  dead  with  hunger  and  fatigue ;  then  the  city 
in  process  of  formation,  —  scattered  tents ;  the 
beginning  of  traffic,  represented  by  a  shop  in  a 
board  shanty.  But  to  encounter  equal  things  one 
need  not  go  very  far  from  Illinois  where  we  are. 
On  this  very  spot  Indian  sepulchres  have  been 
found,  skeletons  resting  among  the  highest  branches 
of  the  trees.  A  discussion  followed  in  regard  to 
the  Indians,  whom  some  consider  capable  of  learn- 
ing the  arts  of  civilization,  particularly  agriculture, 
while  others  declare  them  to  be  apt  at  everything 
but  work. 

The  laborers  employed  on  the  farm  are  all 
Swedes,  —  honest  and  industrious  therefore.  I 
see  their  tiny  houses  scattered  among  the  trees 


208  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

and  on  the  plain.  They  cut,  reap,  and  thresh  the 
grain,  with  the  help  of  the  most  perfect  machines. 
There  is  nothing  picturesque  about  it.  The  bronzed 
cheek  of  the  master  proves  that  he  has  overlooked 
them  closely,  and  that  his  own  task  is  no  easy  one. 
He  laughs  cheerfully  at  ready-made  phrases  in 
regard  to  the  delights  of  a  rural  life,  and  at  all  the 
beautiful  lines  penned  by  poets  ancient  and  mod- 
ern on  the  subject  of  the  fancied  joys  of  the  rustic. 
**  Virgil  never  visited  America,"  he  concludes  by 
saying.  The  ladies  talk  of  Paris,  where  the  two 
fair  Hebes  who  poured  our  tea  at  table  are  to  finish 
their  education.  I  dare  not  tell  them  that  they 
will  hardly  find  as  many  resources  there  as  in  Gales- 
burg.  We  are  not  invited  to  take  that  look  around 
the  establishment  which  is  inevitable  in  Europe. 
Western  country  regions  are  not  yet  provided  with 
smooth  footpaths ;  people  walk  from  necessity  upon 
roads  leading  to  a  practical  end.  Our  little  grassy 
paths,  only  meant  to  be  trodden  by  long  genera- 
tions of  leisurely  people,  will  come  later. 

About  sunset  I  again  enter  the  buggy,  from 
whose  high  seat  I  witness  one  of  those  sunsets 
which  kindle  a  splendid  conflagration  in  the  sky 
overarching  the  limitless  prairie.  The  youngest 
daughter  of  my  host,  a  lovely  child  of  nine,  springs 
upon  a  horse,  regardless  of  her  short  skirts,  not 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  209 

even  delaying  for  a  hat,  and  escorts  us  to  the  turn 
in  the  road,  where  she  stays.  I  gaze  back  at  the 
figure  of  the  tiny  Amazon  with  floating  hair,  as  it 
stands  out  black  against  the  purple  background ; 
and  I  feel  that  sad,  sweet  emotion  which  has  more 
than  once  stolen  over  me  during  my  long  journey 
full  of  new  faces  and  new  scenes,  —  the  feeling 
that  I  am  breaking  a  bond  but  just  formed;  that 
I  am  leaving  too  soon  people  or  things  which  I 
came  near  loving,  which  I  shall  never  again  see. 

Another  expedition  as  far  as  Knoxville,  in  a  more 
beautiful  landscape,  the  vast  sea  of  the  prairie  being 
more  rolling.  My  companions  pointed  out  to  me 
that  wherever  there  are  woods  a  creek  flows  under 
the  fresh  foliage,  which  accompanies  and  reveals 
its  windings.  At  this  autumn  season  the  creeks 
are  mere  brooks,  but  in  winter  they  overflow  the 
very  roads.  Sometimes  the  eternal  fence  is  re- 
placed by  hedges,  where  the  osage  orange  hangs 
like  a  great  ball  of  green  wool,  which  will  soon 
turn  yellow.  Among  the  groups  of  oak  and  maple, 
now  and  again,  we  see  a  painted  wooden  house,  and 
a  farm ;  then  we  go  long  distances  without  seeing 
anything  but  a  solitary'  barn  by  the  roadside,  or 
again  a  sort  of  large  lonely  cabin  behind  its  fence. 
I  shall  see  similar  ones  everywhere  at  two-mile  in- 
tervals.    They  are  schools  supported  by  neigh- 


2IO  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

boring  farmers,  who,  remote  from  cities,  have  no 
other  way  to  educate  their  children. 

Knoxville,  a  small  town  already  dead,  although 
it  is  not  much  more  than  fifty  years  old,  persists 
in  retaining  an  air  of  importance  with  the  two  or 
three  pretentious  edifices,  with*  triangular  fronts, 
which  adorn  its  chief  square.  One  of  them  for- 
merly sheltered  the  court,  which  has  since  been 
transferred  to  Galesburg.  There  was  a  lively  strug- 
gle between  the  two  towns,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Galesburg  will  tell  you  why  it  ended  in  their 
favor.  Knoxville  was  originally  peopled  by  South- 
erners, while  its  rival  was  founded  by  Puritans  from 
the  North ;  if  we  are  to  believe  them,  it  was  the 
inevitable  triumph  of  all  the  good  qualities  to  be 
found  in  a  mighty  race.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  it  is 
situated  on  the  main  line  of  two  of  the  largest  rail- 
roads in  the  West,  the  Burlington  and  the  Santa  Fe, 
making  it  easily  accessible  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  may  have  had  somewhat  to  do  with  in- 
clining the  scale  in  favor  of  Galesburg.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  Knoxville  slumbers  in  the  shade  of  her 
big  trees,  white  and  clean,  with  broad  streets  lined 
with  trees,  and  a,  magnificent  school  for  boys  es- 
tablished by  the  Episcopal  Church.  A  short  dis- 
tance off,  in  the  country,  is  a  no  less  monumental 
Institute  for  girls,  under  the  same  patronage.     St. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  211 

Mary's  (that  is  its  name)  would  have  reminded 
me  of  a  European  convent,  if  an  accident  had  not 
brought  me  there  at  the  recreation  hour  which  fol- 
lows luncheon.  All  the  girls  were  on  the  road,  on 
foot  or  in  carriages,  driving  themselves,  munching 
apples,  all-  very  merry,  very  elegant,  and  certainly 
far  more  worldly  than  the  pupils  of  the  mixed  col- 
lege. Not  far  distant  is  an  almshouse,  which  looks 
much  more  like  a  handsome  hotel  than  a  home  for 
paupers.  All  ages  are  assembled  there,  and  most 
humane  concessions  are  made  to  family  life,  for  I 
was  told  of  a  widow  who  had  just  been  taken  in 
with  her  three  little  children. 

We  cross  the  railroad  track,  there  being  nothing 
to  forbid  access  to  those  who  desire  to  be  run  over, 
and  we  return  to  Galesburg  by  delightful  roads 
skirting  the  woods.  A  buggy  passes  ours,  contain- 
ing a  young  man  and  a  girl.  I  ask  the  professor 
who  is  with  me  if  they  are  engaged  to  be  married. 
"  They  may  become  so,"  he  replies,  "  but  not 
necessarily."  And  I  see  that  this  stern  man  un- 
derstands and  approves  that  things  should  be  as 
they  are.  Upon  this  point  he  is  of  the  same  opin- 
ion as  all  the  fathers  of  families  whom  I  met  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere,  —  they  think  it  perfectly  nat- 
ural that  their  daughters  should  ride  horseback, 
should  go  and  come  escorted  by  a  young  man 


212  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

friend.  But  I  do  not  know  whether  his  tolerance 
would  equal  that  of  many  others  if  his  own  family 
should  attempt  to  put  his  theory  into  practice. 

I  have  made  an  interesting  discovery.  The 
friends  who  show  me  such  cordial  hospitality  are 
descended  from  Barbara  Heck,  the  mother  of 
Methodism  in  the  New  World ;  at  the  same  time  I 
learn  how  the  establishment  of  this  sect  in  America 
is  connected  with  the  conquests  of  Louis  XIV.  The 
Germans  driven  from  the  Palatinate  sought  protec- 
tion under  the  English  flag  in  Marlborough's  lines, 
and  grants  of  land  were  made  to  them  in  Ireland ; 
they  were  eminently  worthy  people,  much  inclined 
to  religious  ideas.  The  Wesleyan  doctrine  of  the 
witness  of  the  spirit  fell  upon  their  souls,  well  pre- 
pared to  receive  it.  They  set  sail  from  Limerick 
in  1760,  not  to  avoid  poverty,  but  to  go  in  search 
of  a  promised  land,  according  to  the  words  of  the 
Bible  that  those  who  "  do  business  in  great  waters, 
these  see  the  works  of  the  Lord  and  His  won- 
ders in  the  deep."  Among  them  was  a  young 
woman  quite  recently  married,  who  was  their  guide 
and  support  throughout  the  vicissitudes  of  exile. 
Landing  in  New  York,  they  gradually  lost  their 
first  ardor.  Barbara  put  them  to  shame  for  this 
lapse.  Supported  by  her  old  German  Bible,  she 
dared  everything.    For  instance,  a  love  of  gambling 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  21$ 

having  seized  the  little  colony,  she  entered  the 
gaming-house,  took  possession  of  the  cards,  burned 
them  on  the  spot,  and  converted  the  gamblers. 
The  influence  which  she  exerted  over  her  people 
was  that  of  a  second  Deborah.  The  Methodists 
had  no  church;  she  resolved  to  build  one.  Ser- 
vice was  arranged,  thanks  to  her,  in  the  house  of 
her  cousin,  Philip  Embury,  whom  she  electrified 
by  her  example.  She  worked  all  the  week  to  earn 
her  daily  bread,  and  then  distributed  spiritual  food 
to  an  ever-increasing  multitude.  There  are  three 
Methodist  Churches  in  New  York,  not  counting 
negro  churches ;  and  one  of  them  stands  on  the  site 
of  Philip  Embury's  humble  home.  When  Barbara 
Heck  died,  in  Canada,  at  a  very  advanced  age, 
after  sowing  her  religious  beliefs  in  that  region, 
she  declared  that  she  had  never,  for  twenty-four 
hours  at  a  time,  lost  the  evidence  of  acceptance 
with  God  from  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  the  date 
of  what  she  called  her  conversion,  because  the 
Spirit  had  not  spoken  to  her  until  then.  I  tell 
Barbara's  great-grandchildren,  who  are  Congrega- 
tionalists,  how  surprised  I  am  that  they  should 
have  forsaken  the  church  founded  by  such  an  an- 
cestress. They  reply  that  it  is  much  easier  than 
we  think  to  change  from  one  Protestant  sect  to  an- 
other, the  differences  between  them  being  chiefly 


214  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

in  the  form  of  government.  They  are  all  of  one 
communion,  except  the  Baptists,  who  hold  them- 
selves apart. 

The  longer  I  stay  inGalesburg,  the  more  strongly 
it  reminds  me  of  some  little  German  university 
town.  There  is  the  same  simplicity,  the  same  wor- 
ship of  learning  and  its  representatives,  the  same 
patriarchal  customs.  The  German  spirit,  shown 
by  a  general  knowledge  of  the  language,  prevails 
here  as  in  many  other  American  cities,  —  the  re- 
sult of  immigration,  of  the  more  or  less  lengthy 
sojourn  made  by  the  professors  in  Germany,  and 
also  of  that  distinction  which  attaches  to  the  vic- 
torious party  seen  from  afar.  The  majority  do 
not  speak  French,  although  some  look  back  with 
delight  to  a  brief  visit  to  Paris. 

The  presence  of  the  professors,  their  mothers 
and  wives,  lends  a  grave  charm,  which  I  enjoy  im- 
mensely, to  one  or  two  very  small  evening  parties. 
The  military  instructor,  whose  uniform  adds  a  gay 
note  to  that  gray  and  black  symphony,  is  more 
worldly  than  his  colleagues.  My  questions  all 
bear  upon  the  system  of  co-education,  with  its  ad- 
vantages and  its  dangers.  The  president's  pretty 
wife  says:  "My  husband  and  I  can  say  nothing 
against  it,  because  we  met  and  fell  in  love  at  college." 
My  host's  oldest  daughter  was  married  in  the  same 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  21 5 

way,  after  winning  all  her  degrees.  Yes,  many 
matches  are  made  in  college.  Is  that  an  evil  (they 
ask)?  Would  it  be  better  to  meet  in  society,  in 
the  midst  of  mere  trifles?  Do  not  people  learn 
to  know  one  another  far  better,  and  under  more 
interesting  aspects,  when  they  study  together  for 
several  years? 

"  But  these  marriages  are  premature." 

"Not  at  all;  they  do  not  take  place  until  the 
man  has  made  a  place  for  himself.  The  con- 
stancy of  the  pair  is  often  put  to  a  prolonged 
test." 

"  And  does  not  love  distract  you  from  your 
work?" 

This  very  French  suggestion  caused  a  smile. 
An  American  does  not  think  of  a  woman  until  he 
has  first  thought  of  his  important  duties,  and  also 
of  his  means  for  supporting  that  woman.  The  ex- 
ample of  the  youthful  president  of  Knox,  who  has 
recently  succeeded  a  man  universally  esteemed, 
whose  age  obliged  him  to  seek  some  relative  re- 
pose,—  the  brilliant,  almost  unique,  instance  of  a 
position  of  such  importance  attained  at  the  age 
of  thirty,  —  proves  that  matrimonial  engagements 
made  at  college  do  not  hinder  great  efforts  and 
great  success.  I  am  asked  if  I  have  seen  anything, 
either  in  the  college  or  in  the  town,  which  sug- 


2l6  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

gested  any  of  the  disadvantages  to  which  I  refer. 
Certainly  not.  Well,  there  is  nothing.  The  at- 
mosphere of  Knox  is  healthy  and  serene.  Each 
individual  respects  the  dignity  of  every  other  in- 
dividual without  the  intervention  of  strict  rules. 
New-comers  soon  see  this ;  they  understand  what 
is  expected  of  them,  and  they  very  naturally  fall  in 
with  it. 

I  hear  of  the  distinguished  men  who  have  gradu- 
ated from  Knox  College.  Ministers  of  the  Gospel 
and  professors  predominate,  —  that  is  to  say,  the 
people  who  care  least  for  the  material  pleasures 
of  this  world,  who  care  most  for  the  life  of  the 
spirit. 

My  conclusion,  after  hearing  everything,  is  that 
the  system  would  not  succeed  in  a  larger  city, 
where  a  ceaseless  moral  guard  could  not  be  kept, 
where  the  religious  influences  would  be  less  direct, 
where  there  would  be  temptations  or  even  dis- 
tractions. The  still  primitive  manners  of  the  West 
allow  of  the  realization  of  that  which  anywhere 
else  would  be  a  Utopia.  There  are  many  other 
colleges  founded  on  the  same  basis  as  that  of 
Knox  ;  and  this  testifies  to  a  rectitude  of  soul, 
to  fresh  and  robust  virtues  to  which  it  seems  to 
me  the  more  completely  Europeanized  America 
of  the  East  does  not  do  full  justice.     There   are 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  21/ 

prejudices  on  both  sides,  in  the  West  as  well  as  in 
the  East,  for  lack  of  better  acquaintance.  Did 
not  an  uncompromising  native  of  the  prairies  write 
me  the  other  day :  "  Come  again  and  stay  longer. 
As  my  mother  says  to  her  visitors,  '  Come  again 
and  bring  your  knitting!  '  What  pleased  me  in 
your  first  visit  was  your  determination  to  see  the 
people  of  America  and  not  its  snobs.  The  true 
American  is  not  to  be  found  in  drawing-rooms. 
It  is  only  in  the  litde  towns,  the  villages,  in  the 
country  that  the  democratic  ways  which  charac- 
terize him  still  exist.  How  long  will  this  resist 
the  rising  tide  of  money  and  its  insolent  privileges? 
I  cannot  say  ;  but  it  exists  in  our  homestead,  where 
I  spend  the  summer,  eating  at  the  same  table  with 
the  hired  girl,  and  where  the  gardener  calls  me 
by  my  Christian  name,  my  Top  name,  as  Walt 
Whitman  would  say." 

The  man  who  says  this,  a  talented  writer,  is 
admirably  adapted  to  endure  the  harsh  influences 
of  a  farm  in  Wisconsin.  I  am  more  eclectic  than 
he.  The  wild  perfumes  of  the  prairie  do  not  pre- 
vent me  from  appreciating  certain  New  York  and 
Boston  drawing-rooms ;  but  I  have  often  been 
shocked  at  the  wilful  ignorance  which  Americans 
who  had  crossed  the  ocean  a  dozen  times,  pro- 
fess for  those   parts   of  their  country  which   are 


2l8  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

Still  new,  just  as  if  the  treasures  of  the  future  were 
not  buried  there.  I  left  Galesburg  with  regret ; 
I  return  to  it  from  afar  ;  I  still  think  of  it  with 
sympathy  and  respect.  It  would  be  a  great  pleas- 
ure for  me  to  go  again  and  "  take  my  knitting," 
as  I  was  invited  to  do  in  the  frank  parlance  of  the 
West. 


University  Extension.  —  Chautauqua. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  colleges,  I  feel 
that  I  must  needs  say  a  few  words  about  a  popular 
movement  in  the  direction  of  higher  culture  which 
is  as  beneficial  to  women  as  to  men.  University 
extension  means  the  various  methods  afforded  to 
all  classes  of  people  for  acquiring  a  more  extended 
education  than  can  be  found  in  schools.  Or  rather 
the  university  taken  in  this  sense  is,  according  to 
Professor  Moulton's  excellent  expression,  the  exact 
antithesis  of  the  school,  —  the  school  being  obli- 
gatory, governed  by  an  unchanging  discipline, 
while  the  university,  thrown  open  to  the  masses, 
is  the  education  of  adults  ;  a  voluntary  and  un- 
limited form  of  education,  applied  to  the  entire 
extent  of  life. 

England  originated  these  methods,  which  con- 
sist of  lectures,  weekly  exercises,   questions    and 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES.  219 

answers,  all  ending  with  an  examination,  which 
enables  the  pupil  to  receive  a  certificate  in  regard 
to  the  studies  prosecuted.  The  movement  began 
as  early  as  1850,  but  the  University  of  Cambridge 
did  not  fully  organize  it  until  some  twenty  years 
later.  Oxford  followed  the  example,  and  a  society 
was  formed  in  London  for  the  extension  of  a  mode 
of  teaching  successful  beyond  all  that  could  have 
been  hoped.  It  has  since  been  carried  into  Scot- 
land and  Ireland,  and  was  at  last  transmitted  to 
the  United  States,  beginning  in  that  most  enlight- 
ened city,  Baltimore. 

Dr.  Herbert  Adams,  —  who  kindly  took  me  over 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  where  I  was  received 
by  President  Oilman  with  a  courtesy  which  I  can 
never  forget,  —  Dr.  Adams,  the  professor  of  history, 
told  me  how,  during  the  winter  of  1 887-1 888,  the 
young  people  of  the  city  met  together  once  a  fort- 
night to  hear  lectures  on  the  history  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Another  set  of  lectures  upon  the 
advance  in  manual  labor  was  afterwards  given  for 
the  benefit  of  the  industrial  centres  which  abound 
about  Baltimore.  But  it  was  soon  seen  that  this 
kind  of  instruction  could  not  be  given  to  any  special 
class,  whether  they  were  workmen  or  not,  but  must 
be  open  to  all,  without  regard  to  profession. 

Such  was  the  spirit  which  governed  the  classes 


220  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

subsequently  formed  with  the  assistance  of  those 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  which  exist  in 
every  city.  The  movement  grew  steadily  stronger, 
until  now  all  colleges  lend  their  professors  to 
help  it  on.  To  see  the  colossal  proportions 
which  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  borrowed  from  the 
Old  World  may  assume  in  America,  we  have  only 
to  glance  at  the  Chautauqua  School. 

At  the  very  time  when,  as  I  have  already  shown, 
Boston  was  preparing  to  natu/alize  English  methods 
in  a  limited  circle  (1873),  a  great  idea  was  spring- 
ing to  life  in  the  mind  of  the  Methodist  bishop,  J. 
H.  Vincent.  It  was  first  revealed  to  the  world  at 
a  summer  school  held  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Chau- 
tauqua (N.  Y.)  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the 
Bible.  This  sort  of  Sunday  School  held  in  the 
woods  was  the  starting  point  of  a  popular  uni- 
versity, which,  by  virtue  of  the  charter  granted 
by  the  State  of  New  York,  may  confer  degrees. 
The  camping  ground  has  become  a  sort  of  summer 
resort,  to  which  the  Erie  Railroad  and  the  Lake 
steamboats  annually  bring  thousands  of  students. 
They  find  there  hotels,  museums,  gymnasiums, 
public  halls,  a  "  Hall  of  Philosophy,"  a  "  Palestine 
Park,"  amusements  of  all  kinds,  —  excursions,  re- 
gattas, fireworks,  —  a  little  too  loudly  advertised 
and  vaunted  perhaps;  but  if  it  be  true  that  the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  221 

end  justifies  the  means,  we  must  forgive   Bishop 
Vincent  for  everything. 

Convinced  that  Hfe  is  a  school,  with  educational 
influences  at  work  from  the  cradle  to  the  tomb, 
the  bishop  desires  to  assist  these  influences  by 
keeping  in  sight  individual  capacity  and  surround- 
ing circumstances.  All  knowledge  leads  us  to 
God,  provided  we  ascribe  it  to  Him.  It  is  a  uni- 
versal duty  of  every  age  to  aspire  to  develop  the 
mind.  The  man  who,  even  in  his  old  age,  feels 
the  need  of  guidance  of  this  sort  has  as  much  right 
to  it  as  his  juniors ;  and  a  just  reward  should  be 
given  to  his  efforts.  The  Chautauqua  School 
therefore  adds  to  its  work  by  correspondence, 
an  annual  reunion  at  which  there  are  classes  and 
examinations  which  lead  to  the  conferring  of  a 
sort  of  diploma.  This  meeting  opens  on  the  first 
Tuesday  in  August,  and  lasts  several  weeks,  on 
a  spot  which  might  attract  a  crowd  merely  by  its 
picturesque  beauty.  Unfortunately,  I  was  not 
there  at  the  time  when  the  multitude  starting  from 
the  temple  and  from  Jerusalem,  or  stepping  from  the 
boats  which  traverse  the  lake,  go  up  through 
the  sacred  grove  of  St.  Paul  to  the  hall  which 
forms  the  centre  of  the  magic  circle  to  take  part 
in  those  exercises  known  by  the  name  of  the 
"  Round  Table,"  which  always  begin  with  a  prayer 


222  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

and  end  with  hymns.     We  will  let  Mr.  John  Vin- 
cent speak  for  himself:  ^  — 

"  Every  chair  is  occupied  long  before  the  hour  ap- 
pointed ;  benches  are  brought  forward,  shawls  spread 
on  the  ground,  and  many  stand.  It  is  a  fine  sight  to 
see  that  mass  of  human  beings  crowding  about  the  snowy 
edifice,  amid  green  trees,  with  the  lake  hard  by,  and 
the  rays  of  the  setting  sun  playing  on  the  quivering 
leaves,  upon  all  those  luminous  faces.  We  unconsciously 
think,  as  we  listen,  of  another  lake,  upon  whose  shores 
the  Word  was  given  to  men  of  noble  purpose." 

In  Bishop  Vincent  there  is  something  of  the 
apostle,  and  also  of  the  seer  who  lives  in  the 
contemplation  of  an  almost  celestial  Chautauqua, 
whither — thanks  to  electricity — coming  genera- 
tions shall  be  borne  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  to 
behold  the  perfected  wonders  of  the  telephone, 
the  phonograph,  the  microphone,  etc.  ;  where  the 
changing  hues  of  luminous  fountains  shall  mingle 
with  the  living  waters  of  the  lake  ;  where  all 
tongues  shall  be  taught  by  natural  methods, 
visitors  being  free  to  travel  at  will  through  the 
German,  French,  and  Italian  quarters,  as  well  as 
through  other  foreign  regions  which    shall    make 

1  The  Chautauqua  Movement,  by  John  H.  Vincent.  Chautau- 
qua Press,  Boston. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  22$ 

of  this  University  a  world.  So,  too,  all  may  enter 
one  common  church,  sacred  to  the  spirit  of  charity 
which  brings  all  Christian  sects  together,  and  where 
the  liturgies  of  all  ages  will  find  a  place,  without 
prejudice  to  spontaneous  products.  Dr.  Vincent's 
hopes,  as  we  see,  do  not  stop  at  a  "  local  and 
literal  Chautauqua;  "  they  include  a  "  Chautauqua 
of  ideas  and  inspirations,"  so  lofty  that  it  is  scarcely 
of  the  earth.  This  artless  and  generous  enthusi- 
ast might  well  vie  with  Peter  the  Hermit ;  and  it 
is  indeed  a  modern  crusade  that  he  preaches. 
Chautauqua  now  has  branches  in  all  directions; 
also  summer  residences  whose  various  advantages 
are  indiscriminately  boasted,  —  culture,  religion, 
music,  walks,  and  restaurants.  The  impulse  given 
by  Bishop  Vincent  is  in  reality  the  same  which  once 
produced  revivals,  spiritual  awakenings ;  and  it 
took  place  under  the  same  Methodist  influences, 
although  they  now  extend  to  all  churches  as  well 
as  to  all  branches  of  human  knowledge.  The 
American  taste  for  everything  that  is  sketchy, 
merely  hinted,  so  long  as  the  design  is  huge,  well 
set  off  by  puffs  and  highly  colored,  finds  free 
vent  among  the  two  hundred  thousand  Chautau- 
quans  who  boast  that  they  have  followers  in  India, 
Japan,  Africa,  and  the  Pacific  islands.  But  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  this  encampment  of  a  whole 


224  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

nation  round  about  knowledge,  vulgarized  to  ex- 
cess though  it  be,  has  some  elements  of  greatness. 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  a  certain  abuse  of  the 
flourish  of  trumpets,  we  must  salute  the  good  man 
who  said :  "  It  is  the  mission  of  the  true  reformer, 
the  true  patriot,  the  true  Christian,  to  offer  learn- 
ing and  liberty,  literature,  art,  and  religious  life, 
to  all  people,  everywhere." 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  22$ 


IV. 

A  woman's  prison.  —  HOMES  AND  CLUBS  FOR 
WORKING  WOMEN.  —  DOMESTIC  LIFE.  —  IN- 
DUSTRIAL SCHOOLS.  —  AGRICULTURAL  IN- 
STITUTE AT  HAMPTON  :  NEGROES  AND 
NEGRESSES. 

A  woman's  prison  :  sherborn. 

I  FEEL  that  all  I  have  said  of  Boston  would  be 
incomplete  if  I  failed  to  add  my  impressions  of 
Sherborn  Prison,  conducted  and  managed  solely 
by  women.  Mrs.  Ellen  Johnson  has  proved  for 
the  last  ten  years  —  she  proves  every  day  —  what 
patience  and  determination  can  make  of  the  most 
degraded  of  all  beings.  She  has  charge  of  the 
financial  part  of  the  prison  as  well  as  the  moral 
and  material  direction.  Everything  passes  through 
her  hands;  and  she  fully  justifies  this  system  of 
autocracy.  Her  model  reformatory  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  in  the  heart  of  the  country, 
although  not  more  than  an  hour's  journey  from 
Boston.  The  surrounding  market-gardens  com- 
pletely isolate  it.  The  country  through  which  we 
travelled,  still  attractive  in  spite  of  its  shroud  of 
snow,  was  undulating  and  shut  in  by  wooded 
hills.     Yonder  huge  building  of  red   brick,  with 

IS 


226  THE  CONDITION  OF   WOMAN 

large  out-houses  which  seem  to  indicate  a  great 
farm,  is  the  prison,  —  a  prison  without  walls  or 
fences.  In  front  of  it  lies  a  garden  belonging  to 
the  smaller  of  the  two  main  buildings,  which  are 
separate,  although  quite  close  together.  This  is 
the  home  of  the  directress ;  the  other  contains  the 
prisoners,  whose  number  varies  from  three  to  four 
hundred.  None  of  them  are  sentenced  for  life; 
the  term  of  imprisonment  does  not  often  exceed 
five  years.  But  there  are  some  exceptions;  for 
we  find  murderers  at  Sherborn,  and  infanticides 
and  incendiaries,  as  well  as  mere  vagabonds  and 
incorrigible  drunkards.  The  last  class  is  unfor- 
tunately most  common  of  all. 

Mrs.  Johnson  is  a  tall,  stout  woman,  about  fifty- 
five  years  old,  whose  open,  benevolent  countenance 
expresses  the  calmest  energy.  She  has  a  very 
striking  look  of  moral  and  physical  health.  Good- 
ness is  apparent  in  every  line  of  her  round  full  face ; 
but  we  see  at  the  first  glance  that  there  is  nothing 
sentimental  about  this  goodness,  and  that  it  is  not 
mixed  with  weakness.  She  leans  upon  no  outside 
authority,  and  although  the  prison  has,  of  course, 
inspectors,  they  give  her  free  sway,  appreciating 
her  thorough  competency.  She  knows  each  one 
of  her  pensioners,  and  her  powers  of  observation 
have  reached  the  highest  point.     A  bunch  of  slen- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  22/ 

der  keys  hangs  at  her  girdle ;  she  walks  before  us, 
followed  by  her  little  dog,  whose  bounds  and  gam- 
bols seem  almost  out  of  place,  so  suggestive 
of  liberty  are  they.  From  a  pretty  room  full  of 
flowers  we  pass  into  the  large,  light  corridors  of 
the  prison,  and  the  Superintendent  shows  us  her 
kingdom,  and  answers  all  our  questions. 

Yes,  she  lives  alone  in  her  part  of  the  house, 
absolutely  alone,  served  by  prisoners.  We  saw 
one  of  them,  the  young  girl  who  opened  the  door 
for  us.  She  wore  the  prison  dress,  but  the  red 
rosette  fastened  to  her  waist  shows  that  her  con- 
duct is  irreproachable.  This  little  bit  of  ribbon, 
one  of  Mrs.  Johnson's  happy  ideas,  has  done  great 
service.  Every  distinction  gained  helps  to  raise 
the  moral  standard  of  these  poor  women,  and  she 
never  lets  the  slightest  effort  go  unrewarded,  —  not 
merely  strict  obedience  to  rules,  but  private,  indi- 
vidual advance,  more  important  than  all  the  rest. 
She  is  not  content  with  passive  submission;  she 
believes  that  the  conscience  of  the  ignorant  and 
fallen  can  only  be  aroused  by  trusting  them  to 
themselves  up  to  a  certain  point.  The  prison  sys- 
tem is  wholly  based  on  this  theory.  Thus  the 
prison  dress  at  first  sight  is  alike  for  all,  —  a 
blue  and  white  checked  gingham.  But  look  again ; 
that  check,  according  as  it  is  larger  or   smaller. 


228  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

according  as  it  has  one,  two,  three,  or  four  bars, 
shows  that  its  wearer  belongs  to  one  or  the  other 
of  four  divisions.  After  the  first  weeks  of  solitary 
trial,  the  new-comer  is  put  with  her  companions ; 
and  there  she  has  an  opportunity  to  struggle  in- 
cessantly to  obtain  better  food,  a  little  freedom, 
various  privileges.  To  do  this,  she  must  rise  from 
the  last  grade  but  one  to  the  higher  grades.  It  may 
also  happen  that  she  falls  to  the  last.  We  shall  see, 
if  we  follow  Mrs.  Johnson,  what  this  means. 

It  seems  impossible  to  imagine  anything  neater, 
more  shining,  and  better  waxed  than  Sherborn 
prison.  Air  and  light  enter  freely  everywhere; 
we  smell  no  bad  odors,  and  indeed  no  odors  of  any 
sort,  anywhere ;  not  a  grain  of  dust,  bright  cop- 
pers, scoured  and  whitewashed  walls,  stairs  so 
beautifully  kept  that  they  look  like  new.  We 
seem  to  be  moving  in  the  pure  atmosphere  of 
some  picture  of  a  Dutch  interior.  This  cleanliness 
becomes  almost  excessive  and  distressing  in  the 
kitchen.  Is  it  possible  that  such  well-scrubbed 
tables,  such  carefully  scoured  utensils  are  ever 
used?  And  how  is  it  that  no  emanations  rise  from 
the  three  huge  kettles  which  are  all  on  the  boil? 
Mrs.  Johnson  lifts  the  covers:  one  holds  cocoa- 
shells,  another  oat-meal,  the  third  a  delusive  imita- 
tion of  coffee,  which  in  all  three  cases  is  equivalent 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  229 

to  hot  water.  This  is  the  usual  fare.  Very  little 
meat  is  used,  and  but  once  a  day,  in  a  semblance 
of  broth.  To  make  amends  for  this,  the  women  can 
have  an  almost  unlimited  amount  of  bread  cut  in 
thin  slices,  as  is  the  American  custom,  and  very 
white.  Clearly,  the  strong  soups  and  coarse  bread 
used  in  Europe  are  more  nutritious. 

"  This  is  enough,"  observes  Mrs.  Johnson.  "  If 
they  were  better  fed,  they  would  be  harder  to  man- 
age ;  and  our  sanitary  condition  is  all  that  we  could 
wish  for." 

Sufficient  or  not,  this  meagre  fare  is  very  neatly 
served.  And  here  we  note  the  stress  laid  upon 
decent  and  respectable  habits  by  all  who  have 
Anglo-Saxon  blood  in  their  veins.  The  punish- 
ment for  the  worst  women  is  to  eat  out  of  cracked 
or  broken  dishes.  This  is  part  of  the  ingenious 
system  of  the  four  grades  which  our  visit  to  the 
four  dining-halls  shows  us.  In  the  dining-hall  for 
the  lowest  class  everything  is  of  the  coarsest  de- 
scription. Every  article  of  the  crockery  and  table- 
ware is  damaged ;  the  food  also  is  made  up  from 
the  leavings  of  the  other  tables.  The  correspond- 
ing cells  are  the  least  convenient  in  the  prison; 
closed  merely  by  a  curtain,  they  open  on  a  pas- 
sage-way which  is  strictly  guarded.  Mrs.  Johnson 
told  us  with  an  air  of  satisfaction  that  there  were 


230  THE  CONDITION  OF    WOMAN 

but  nine  of  these  outcast  prisoners.  They  were 
formerly  far  more  numerous ;  but  by  good  conduct 
several  have  gradually  risen  to  the  first  division, 
which  gives  them  certain  delicacies,  choice  dishes, 
tea  once  a  week,  and  a  little  butter.  In  the  four 
divisions  the  regularity  of  the  setting  of  the  table 
is  a  masterpiece  of  exactness.  No  fork  projects 
beyond  another;  the  eye  travels  along  two  lines 
which  seem  as  if  drawn  by  plummet  and  rule, 
and  the  table  manners  must  be  equally  perfect, 
—  hands  and  feet  placed  according  to  rule,  and 
not  one  moment  of  forgetfulness.  The  success 
of  attempts  made  at  the  famous  Elmira  reforma- 
tory (New  York  State),  where  certain  criminals 
were  gradually  made  morally  straight  by  being 
physically  straightened,  compelled  to  walk  upright, 
to  look  their  fellow-men  in  the  face,  to  give  up 
those  visible  bad  habits  which  are  but  the  reflec- 
tion of  hidden  faults,  —  the  final  success  of  these 
experiments,  I  say,  seems  to  have  been  the  subject 
of  deep  thought  with  Mrs.  Johnson.  She  believes 
that  a  proper  bearing  should  be  regarded  as  a 
symptom  of  good  omen,  indicating  the  return  of  a 
certain  self-control ;  and  she  consequently  punishes 
the  slightest  lack  of  decorum.  But  her  punish- 
ments are  not  very  severe.  The  delinquent  is  sent 
to  a  special  cell,  barer  than  the  others,  with  a  grated 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  23 1 

door ;  for  serious  faults  there  is  the  dungeon,  —  a 
dark  closet  under  ground,  with  no  bed  but  the 
floor,  and  no  food  but  bread  and  water.  There 
were  formerly  several  of  these  dungeons,  but  Mrs. 
Johnson  has  been  able  to  do  away  with  all  but 
one,  and  it  has  scarcely  been  used  for  a  year  or 
two.  She  has  often  gone  into  it  herself  with  some 
poor  wretch  made  hysterical  through  fear,  to 
advise  her  gently,  to  persuade  her  to  beg  pardon ; 
or,  if  she  were  obstinate,  to  bring  her  warm  cover- 
ings to  protect  her  from  the  cold  night  air.  Except 
in  these  extraordinary  cases,  the  punishments  and 
rewards  are  always  the  same,  —  the  going  up  or 
down  from  one  division  to  another.  The  first  divi- 
sion thus  constitutes  a  select  circle.  We  meet  a 
young  woman  as  we  pass  through  the  corridors, 
decorated  with  the  red  ribbon,  a  book  under  her 
arm.  The  Superintendent  taps  her  affectionately 
on  the  shoulder.  "  This  is  a  very  good  girl,"  she 
says.  •"  She  would  not  lose  that  ribbon  for  any- 
thing in  the  world.  Would  you?"  and  she  called 
her  by  her  Christian  name.  "  For  if  a  woman 
once  deserves  to  lose  it,  she  can  never  get  it  back 
again,  no  matter  what  she  may  do,"  explains  Mrs. 
Johnson  turning  to  us. 

We  visit  the   ironing-rooms,  the   sewing-room, 
and  the  mending-room.    Every  prisoner  leaves  the 


232  THE  CONDITION  OF   WOMAN 

prison  with  a  trade  by  which  she  can,  if  she 
choose,  earn  an  honest  Hving.  Besides,  those 
who  cannot  read  are  obliged  to  attend  a  class  in 
reading  and  writing  every  evening;  the  others 
may  attend  a  class  in  history  and  geography  if 
they  wish.  They  have  a  library,  and  the  book 
most  in  demand  seems  to  be  that  work  of  com- 
passion, "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  They  are  allowed 
to  take  out  books  during  their  hours  of  recess, 
which  are  very  brief  and  carefully  guarded.  Every- 
thing that  keeps  them  from  talking  together  is  con- 
sidered wholesome.  In  a  half  hour's  conversation 
they  go  back  to  the  past;  they  exchange  too 
many  confidences,  they  get  excited,  the  improve- 
ment steadily  made  for  weeks  or  months  may  all 
be  lost.  Mrs.  Johnson  hopes  to  do  away  with  this 
fatal  half  hour,  which  is  only  conceded  to  the  too 
feminine  need  for  talking;  she  is  searching  for 
some  way  of  filling  it  with  amusements  which 
require  silence,  such  as  music,  or  visits  from  kind 
souls  from  the  outside  world.  But  it  is  a  very 
delicate  matter  to  select  these  visitors :  they  must 
not  be  easily  impressed,  disposed  to  emotion,  nor 
prying  persons  who  like  to  listen  to  all  sorts  of 
tales.  Mrs.  Johnson  refuses  to  hear  the  story  of 
any  of  the  prisoners;  she  does  not  allow  herself 
this  too  facile  form  of  interest,  but  takes  them 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  233 

up  at  the  point  where  she  finds  them.  Yielding 
to  morbid  sensibility  does  no  good  to  these  un- 
balanced natures.  The  faces  which  I  saw  in  the 
work-rooms  reminded  me  of  those  of  the  patients 
at  the  Salpetriere.  They  sit  with  their  backs  to  the 
door,  so  that  their  attention  may  not  be  diverted, 
and  they  hardly  turn  their  heads  when  we  enter. 
But  I  notice  their  weak  features,  their  hollow  eyes, 
their  foolish  or  brutal  countenances.  Their  hair  is 
neatly  dressed  in  braids ;  but  the  only  pretty  face 
is  the  sullen  one  of  a  very  young  mulatto  girl. 
The  long  rows  of  backs  presented  to  me  express  a 
peculiar  and  significant  laxity.  These  work-rooms, 
admirably  ventilated,  and  heated  by  steam  like  the 
rest  of  the  house,  are  as  free  as  the  other  apart- 
ments from  the  heavy,  disagreeable  odors  of  work- 
rooms generally,  even  when  they  are  not  prison 
work-rooms.  The  prisoners  are  compelled  to  ob- 
serve the  strictest  neatness.  Each  cell  ^contains 
the  necessary  utensils  for  washing,  with  a  little  bed, 
a  chair,  a  Bible,  and  the  rules  fastened  to  the  wall ; 
very  often  a  rosary.  In  fact,  four-fifths  of  the  in- 
mates of  Sherborn  are  Catholics  (Irishwomen),  and 
they  are  the  only  ones  who  retain  any  religion; 
some  of  them  are  very  pious,  and  partake  of  the 
communion  regularly  every  Sunday  in  the  chapel, 
where  the  two  forms  of  worship  are  celebrated  in 


234  THE  CONDITION  OF   WOMAN 

turn.  Protestants  who  have  fallen  thus  far,  believe 
in  nothing.  Does  not  this  difference  afford  room 
for  thought?  They  have  the  same  Scriptures,  the 
same  examples  of  the  Canaanite  and  the  publican, 
of  Mary  Magdalen  and  the  thief;  yet  the  one 
despair,  and  the  others  feel  undying  confidence. 
Protestantism  is  assuredly  the  proud  religion  of 
those  who  have  never  sinned. 

The  decoration  of  the  chapel,  where  a  Protes- 
tant service  follows  the  Mass,  seems  meant  for 
Catholics.  Above  the  platform,  in  front  of  which 
the  congregation  sit,  is  a  figure  of  the  Virgin  be- 
tween two  other  figures,  — on  one  side  Christ  say- 
ing to  the  woman  taken  in  adultery,  "  Go,  and  sin 
no  more;  "  on  the  other,  the  infant  Jesus  in  the 
manger,  surrounded  by  poor  wretches,  who  fill  a 
sort  of  cavern,  in  the  back  of  which  a  light  shines, 
with  the  inscription,  "  A  little  child  shall  lead  you." 

A  lady  who  lives  near  often  plays  the  organ, 
and  enchants  these  impressionable  creatures  by 
thus  speaking  to  them  in  the  language  which  they 
can  best  understand,  —  that  which  touches  at  the 
same  time  the  senses  and  the  soul.  In  many  ways, 
this  young  woman,  rich  and  artistic,  is  Mrs.  John- 
son's active  assistant.  Other  charitable  persons 
have  helped  to  beautify  the  amusement  room, 
which  is  only  opened  on  certain  festal  days,  and 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  235 

is  adorned  with  conservatory  plants  and  flowers, 
among  which  tame  birds  flutter.  There  are  all 
sorts  of  games  and  pictures.  A  play  is  sometimes 
acted  by  the  prisoners,  who  make  their  costumes 
with  the  matron's  help.  Some  enter  into  this  with 
great  spirit,  and,  indeed,  intelligence.  But  the 
thing  which  amuses  them  more  than  anything  else 
is  work  in  the  fields,  to  which  continuous  good 
conduct  entitles  them.  In  squads  and  in  silence 
they  mow,  or  dig  potatoes.  Nothing  is  healthier, 
more  strengthening  than  contact  with  the  earth. 
So  Mrs.  Johnson  strives  to  find  places  on  farms 
not  only  for  those  women  who  are  set  free,  but 
also  for  those  she  thinks  she  can  answer  for  before 
their  time  is  up.  It  is  so  hard  to  get  "  help  "  that 
Sherborn  has  more  applications  than  it  can  fill. 
Sent  into  remote  country  districts  where  they  live 
in  daily  relations  with  simple,  honest  people  who 
have  no  other  servants,  these  sinners  gradually  be- 
come accustomed  to  family  life,  to  good  habits; 
some  have  so  far  reformed  as  wholly  to  forget 
their  shameful  past. 

"  I  have  only,"  says  Mrs.  Johnson,  "  to  succeed 
in  inspiring  them  with  some  very  lively  taste,  some 
passion,  which  may  be  directed  into  a  proper  chan- 
nel. You  have  no  idea  how  useful  animals  have 
been  to  me  in  this  way.    I  have  set  them  to  raising 


236  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

silk-worms ;  I  occupy  them  in  the  stable ;  once  I 
gave  out  little  chickens  by  way  of  reward.  No- 
body would  ever  believe  how  much  afifection  they 
lavished  upon  those  tiny  chicks,  which  grew  up 
with  them,  which  were  their  very  own.  But  my 
little  calves  accomplished  the  greatest  miracle. 
We  had  a  hardened  woman  here,  who,  when  she 
had  finished  her  term,  went  straight  back  to  a  house 
of  ill-fame  as  the  only  place  where  she  was  happy. 
She  returned  here,  after  fresh  crimes,  determined 
to  resume  her  vile  profession  for  the  third  time,  as 
soon  as  she  could.  I  then  tried  to  interest  her  in 
two  new-born  calves.  I  sent  her  out  to  play  with 
them.  She  made  friends  with  them;  finally  de- 
voted herself  to  the  dairy  which  we  had  just  estab- 
lished, and  in  this  way  found  her  place.  She  is 
now  a  farm  servant,  and  contented  with  her  lot." 

Mrs.  Johnson  prides  herself  on  her  dairy,  and  on 
the  excellent  butter  which  the  women  make.  Part 
of  the  milk  is  used  for  the  children  in  the  house. 
Of  course,  this  active  reformer,  who  is  so  well 
aware  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by  giving 
people  something  to  love,  has  not  failed  to  try  the 
power  of  maternal  love ;  it  would  be  the  strongest 
of  all  forces  if  women  did  not  sometimes  sink 
below  the  level  of  the  very  beasts. 

We  pass  through  a  small  room  where  two  girls 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  237 

are  preparing  nursing  bottles  and  pap.  "  This," 
says  Mrs.  Johnson,  "  is  the  children's  kitchen.  We 
have  some  fifteen  children,  all  born  in  the  prison. 
The  rules  only  allow  us  to  keep  them  until  they  are 
eighteen  months  old ;  but  I  manage  to  forget  their 
exact  age."  In  spite  of  repeated  disappointments, 
she  still  continues  to  hope  that  association  with 
these  poor  babies  will  help  their  mothers  to  return 
to  a  sense  of  duty.  Alas !  to  most  of  them,  the 
child  is  merely  the  embarrassing  evidence  of  sin : 
they  do  not  love  it.  It  was  found  necessary  to 
withdraw  the  permission  originally  given  them  to 
keep  their  children  with  them  at  night.  The 
babies  were  abused,  beaten,  the  victims  of  violent 
and  animal  impulses. 

The  nursery  is  a  fine  large  room  on  the  first 
floor,  looking  out  over  the  country  on  all  four 
sides.  We  find  there  fourteen  children  of  various 
ages,  some  carried  in  the  arms  of  prisoners,  who 
are  not  their  mothers;  others  are  in  charge  of  a 
matron.  I  never  saw  anything  sadder:  they  are 
as  silent  as  if  already  crushed  by  the  weight  of 
rules  and  regulations,  and  their  poor  puny  faces 
express  a  vague  sense  of  shame  and  disgrace.  No 
playthings  are  allowed  them  lest  they  should  hand 
them  from  one  to  another ;  for  many  of  these  off- 
springs of  drunkenness  and  vice  have  inherited  con- 


238  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

tagious  diseases.  They  are  only  too  fortunate  when 
they  are  not  morally  rotten  almost  before  they  are 
born  !  Mrs.  Johnson  tells  us  in  an  undertone  of  one 
little  monster  whose  precocious  depravity  was  so 
indomitable  that  she  was  forced  to  send  it  away. 

"What  became  of  it?" 

She  turns  away  as  she  answers  me:  "I  never 
asked;  it  was  taken  to  the  almshouse." 

It  is  terrible  to  think  what  the  future  of  this  un- 
clean waif  may  be ;  how  little  protection  and  pity 
it  can  expect  elsewhere,  when  it  failed  to  interest 
even  a  Mrs.  Johnson,  at  the  age  which  is  supposed 
to  be  the  age  of  innocence !  This  brief  and  horrible 
history  pursues  me  like  a  nightmare. 

In  summer,  the  children  are  taken  out  to  walk, 
but  in  winter  they  never  leave  the  house,  having 
no  warm  clothes ;  their  little  gingham  gowns  are 
the  prison  uniform.  When  I  see  them,  they  wear 
their  sad  winter  aspect,  —  prisoners  with  no  amuse- 
ments, still  too  young  to  learn  anything,  and  neg- 
lected by  their  mothers  who  rarely  ask  for  them. 
It  seems  as  if  a  European  mother  would  still  feel 
for  her  children  even  at  the  last  degree  of  degra- 
dation ;  the  fall  here,  when  it  occurs,  is  apparently 
more  complete.  Mrs.  Johnson  struggles  against 
all  those  evil  instincts ;  she  chooses  her  assistants 
carefully,  and  only  deputes  to  them  a  comparative 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  239 

degree  of  authority.  Everything  depends  upon 
her,  from  the  most  serious  questions  to  the  smallest 
details. 

We  are  taken  to  the  storerooms,  piled  up  with, 
boots  and  shoes,  dry  goods,  etc.  The  Superinten- 
dent attends  personally  to  all  applications  from 
the  prisoners,  and  supplies  them  with  her  own 
hands.  "  If  one  of  the  women  needs  shoes,"  she 
says,  "  I  am  here  to  give  them  to  her,  and  we  talk. 
I  offer  her  a  glass  of  milk;  I  win  her  confidence. 
I  never  let  an  opportunity  pass  to  get  nearer  to 
them."  The  gospel  spirit  is  still  the  same:  the 
sick  must  be  touched,  to  heal  them. 

Not  one  man  lives  at  Sherborn.  The  matrons 
are  discreet  and  well-mannered  persons ;  the  doc- 
tor, whom  we  met  in  the  pharmacy,  is  an  intelli- 
gent woman,  who  seems  inspired  by  a  true  spirit 
of  devotion.     The  chaplain  is  Miss  Ettie  Lee. 

Doors  still  continued  to  open  and  close  for  us,  — 
doors  which  have  nothing  repelling  about  them, 
but  which  are  of  iron  all  the  same.  We  have  com- 
pleted our  round.  Mrs.  Johnson  draws  our  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  there  is  an  entire  avoidance  of 
the  system  of  close,  narrow  courtyards,  high  walls, 
and  visible  precautions  against  an  attempt  at  escape 
or  communication  with  the  outside  world.  Every 
window  looks  out  on  the  fields  or  the  yard,  but 


240  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

no  passer-by  is  allowed  to  cross  the  prison  bounds. 
Quiet,  solitude,  separation  from  the  outside  world, 
the  healthy  influences  of  Nature,  —  these  are  Mrs. 
Johnson's  assistants.  When  she  took  charge  of 
the  Sherborn  penitentiary,  stern  measures  were 
often  required ;  there  were  revolts,  threats,  and 
stabbings.  Nothing  of  the  kind  exists  now.  A 
recent  incident  shows  the  measure  of  her  influence. 
As  she  was  on  her  way  to  the  chapel  one  evening, 
the  prisoners  following  her  down  a  long  passage- 
way, the  electric  light  suddenly  went  out.  It  was 
a  moment  of  agony  for  Mrs.  Johnson,  —  alone, 
in  utter  darkness,  with  more  than  three  hundred 
women,  some  of  whom  might  be  fired  with  evil 
intentions.  But,  without  losing  her  head,  she  or- 
dered them  to  halt  in  silence,  and  to  keep  their 
position.  "  The  light  will  come  back  directly," 
she  said.  But  no,  the  light  does  not  come  back ; 
two,  three,  four  minutes  pass,  which  seem  like  a 
■  century.  When  at  last  the  corridor  is  again  lighted, 
the  women  were  still  in  their  places ;  not  one  had 
moved. 

Mrs.  Johnson  tells  this  story  with  the  quiet  pride 
of  a  general  doing  justice  to  the  discipline  of  his 
troops,  in  the  comfortable,  flowery  little  parlor  to 
which  we  return  after  visiting  the  prison.  The 
young  prisoner  in  her  gown,  with  its  fourfold  plaid. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  24 1 

protected  by  a  maid's  white  apron,  handed  tea. 
Mrs.  Johnson  talked  cheerfully.  But  my  mind  still 
dwelt  on  the  stern  asceticism  of  a  life  voluntarily 
spent  in  such  surroundings.  I  was  full  of  admira- 
tion and  respect  for  this  woman,  who,  left  a  child- 
less widow,  has  made  for  herself  a  large  family  of 
criminals,  outcasts,  and  repentant  sinners. 

Homes  and  Clubs  for  Working-Women. 

Miss  Grace  Dodge's  family,  taking  the  word  in 
the  same  broad  and  sublime  sense,  —  Miss  Dodge's 
family  is  made  up  of  working-girls.  Her  Associa- 
tion has  more  than  a  thousand  members,  who  are 
all  gathered  together  at  the  annual  meetings,  to 
which  some  hundreds  of  others  who  are  interested  in 
the  work  are  also  invited.  Miss  Dodge  belongs  to 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  holds  a  high  rank  on 
the  board  of  Public  Instruction,  being  a  commis- 
sioner of  education.  She  established  her  Associa- 
tion of  Working-Girls'  Societies  in  1884,  in  a  bare 
room  on  Tenth  Avenue.  At  first  she  gathered 
around  her,  without  requiring  any  fee,  about  a  dozen 
girls  who  spent  their  days  behind  the  counter  in 
a  shop,  or  in  working  for  factories.  At  the  end  of 
a  month  there  were  sixty  of  them,  and  they  agreed 
to   pay  twenty-five   cents   a  week    apiece.     The 

16 


242  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

same  Society  now  has  a  large  house  for  which  it 
pays  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  a  month, 
sub-letting  part  of  it  for  eighty-five  dollars,  which 
reduces  the  Society's  rent  to  forty  dollars,  amply 
covered  by  the  fees  for  membership.  As  in  other 
organizations,  of  which  I  shall  find  occasion  to 
speak,  there  are  classes  in  cooking,  embroidery, 
and  sewihg.  There  are  also  weekly  practical  talks, 
which  have  been  one  of  Miss  Dodge's  great  means 
of  usefulness.  The  subjects  are  very  characteristic 
of  American  ways ;  for  instance :  "  Men  friends ;  " 
"  How  to  find  a  husband ;  "  "  How  to  make  money 
and  how  to  save  it."  One  delightful  detail  is  the 
fact  that  a  sort  of  confraternity  to  help  those  who 
are  poorer  than  themselves,  was  founded  by  the 
members  of  the  Association  as  soon  as  it  became 
thriving. 

I  am  told  that  the  spirit  of  imitation  rapidly 
does  away  in  these  clubs  with  that  extreme  coarse- 
ness but  too  frequent  among  American  women  of 
the  laboring  class,  although  they  may  have  attended 
the  public  schools,  —  a  fresh  proof  that  instruction 
and  education  are  very  different  things.  It  is 
much  to  be  regretted  that  all  New  York  shop-girls 
do  not  belong  to  these  clubs.  The  mere  word  to 
**  serve  "  no  doubt  to  them  implies  some  degree  of 
shame.     The  more  ordinary  the-  shop,  the  more 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  243 

aggressive  the  sense  of  social  equality  seems  to  be 
among  the  employees.  Now  the  club  has  this 
advantage:  it  brings  persons  employed  in  first- 
class  houses  into  contact  with  poor  beginners. 
Workers  in  jute,  silk,  paper,  carpet,  and  cigarette 
manufactories  are  associated  with  dressmakers  and 
girls  from  the  best  shops;  and  thus  the  contagious 
effect  of  example  is  soon  seen. 

The  object  of  the  Association  founded  by  Miss 
Dodge  is  to  unite,  protect,  and  strengthen  the 
interests  of  the  various  societies  of  working-girls, 
modelled  after  the  first  one,  by  collecting  them  in 
a  single  union.  Closely  connected  with  this  group 
is  the  house  on  the  north  shore  of  Long  Island, 
known  as  Holiday  House.  A  generous  lady  placed 
this  large  house,  with  the  fields  and  woods  sur- 
rounding it,  at  the  service  of  working-women  whose 
health  made  it  necessary  for  them  to  take  a  rest. 
For  three  dollars  a  week  a  girl  may  enjoy  all  the 
benefits  of  Holiday  House  and  all  the  delights  of 
the  country.  The  clubs  pay  the  travelling  ex- 
penses; they  all  have  fresh-air  funds,  and  also 
arrange  for  this  with  the  Working-Girls'  Vacation 
Society,  made  up  of  rich  girls,  who,  while  they 
traverse  the  world  for  their  own  pleasure,  do  not 
forget  that  other  young  girls,  tied  down  to  their 
work,   have   neither   opportunity  nor    means    for 


244  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

travelling.  They  therefore  busy  themselves  in 
finding  out  country  farms  where  their  less  fortunate 
friends  may  find  good  fare  at  a  low  price ;  they  ob- 
tain railway  tickets  at  reduced  rates  for  those  whose 
families  live  at  a  distance ;  and  they  get  free  ex- 
cursion tickets  for  those  who  have  but  a  very  short 
leave  of  absence.  The  frantic  luxury  of  New  York 
is  atoned  for  by  an  equal  outlay  of  intelligent 
philanthropy.  For  instance,  when  I  saw  the  Van- 
derbilt  palaces  on  Fifth  Avenue,  I  said  to  myself 
that  this  superlatively  rich  family  were  fully  en- 
titled to  house  themselves  royally,  having  contrib- 
uted to  the  physical  welfare  and  social  progress  of 
so  many.  Christian  Associations  for  young  men 
and  young  women  have  no  more  generous  patrons. 
The  buildings  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  with  the  surrounding  fields  devoted 
to  athletic  sports,  stand  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  Twenty-third  Street.  There  seven  thousand 
young  men,  who,  were  it  not  for  this  refuge,  would 
probably  pass  their  evening  in  a  far  less  wholesome 
way,  find  books,  lectures,  classes,  games,  every 
opportunity  for  instruction  and  honest  amusement. 
Countless  visitors  may  be  added  to  the  regular 
members.  The  latter  scarcely  pay  a  third  of  the 
expenses,  which  mount  up  to  one  hundred  thous- 
and dollars  a  year;  friends  do  the  rest.     So  too 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  245 

in  Fifteenth  Street,  passers-by  are  attracted  by  an 
elegant  brown-stone  structure  inscribed  with  the 
words,  "Young  Women's  Christian  Association." 
I  went  in  one  evening.  From  the  vestibule  I  am 
shown  into  the  very  pretty  chapel,  then  into  the 
vast  sitting-room,  which,  with  its  comfortable  seats, 
its  sofas  and  its  carpets,  has  all  the  appearance  of 
a  family  parlor,  I  go  up  another  story  in  the 
elevator,  where  I  find  the  library  and  reading-rooms, 
containing  all  the  newspapers  and  magazines.  Here 
the  scholars  from  the  School  of  Design  close  by 
come  to  look  for  models;  pieces  of  music  and 
scores  are  lent  gratuitously.  There  is  a  class  in 
stenography  and  typewriting ;  there  are  also  lessons 
in  book-keeping.  Adjoining  the  house,  with  a  sepa- 
rate entrance,  is  the  restaurant,  —  rooms  well  lighted 
and  ventilated,  where  women  employed  all  day 
in  offices,  schools,  or  studios  find  excellent  meals 
at  the  lowest  prices,  served  on  small  tables  with 
the  utmost  neatness.  Those  whom  I  see  look 
like  ladies ;  yet  there  is  a  crowd,  each  having  to 
wait  her  turn.  I  see  one  girl  pay  thirty  cents  for 
a  dinner  of  five  dishes,  including  coffee,  —  those 
tiny  dishes  which  are  all  served  at  once,  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  they  will  get  cold,  in  all  American 
hotels  which  are  not  on  the  European  plan ;  they 
make  one  think  of  a  Japanese   bill   of  fare,  or   a 


246  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

doll's  dinner.  There  is  even  a  side  dish,  the  ever- 
lasting ice-cream. 

Connected  with  the  buildings  of  the  Christian 
Association  is  the  Exchange  for  Woman's  Work, 
which  is  nothing  but  a  shop  founded  on  charitable 
principles,  and  which  exists  in  more  or  less  flourish- 
ing condition  in  all  American  cities.  Women  of 
various  conditions  bring  their  work,  which  is  sold 
anonymously,  —  needlework  of  every  sort,  from 
the  finest  to  the  coarsest;  knitting,  painted  screens, 
lamp-shades,  worsted-work,  made-up  linen,  fans, 
all  kinds  of  fancy  articles  and  art  wares.  One  of 
the  best-stocked  bazaars  of  this  description  which 
I  saw  was  in  Philadelphia  ;  pastry,  preserves,  cakes, 
and  candies  formed  a  large  part  of  the  trade. 
Orders  are  taken,  whether  for  dinners,  wedding 
outfits,  wardrobes  for  babies,  household  linen,  or 
mending ;  every  one  feels  it  her  duty  to  buy  as 
much  as  possible.  The  Society  take  ten  per  cent 
of  the  amount  of  the  sale,  and  the  rest  is  sent  to 
the  anonymous  work-woman,  who  is  told,  if  she  is 
not  extremely  skilful,  to  perfect  herself  in  the  trade- 
school  belonging  to  the  establishment,  for  only 
the  most  finished  products  are  displayed.  Private 
subscriptions  pay  for  the  rent,  the  lighting  and 
heating,  and  other  expenses  of  the  house. 

No,  wealth  in  America  is  not  without  a  soul. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  247 

I  never  felt  more  sure  of  this  than  when  I  visited 
those  homes  for  workingmen  which  are  not  meant 
to  be  works  of  charity,  but  mere  co-operative  enter- 
prises. Before  describing  them,  let  us  see  how 
hard  and  how  costly  it  is  to  live  in  a  great  city ; 
let  us  try  to  show  the  other  side  of  the  vast  wealth 
displayed  in  the  elegant  quarters  of  New  York. 
To  do  this  we  have  only  to  take  several  elevated 
trains  in  succession,  and  to  pass,  as  if  borne  by  the 
crutch  of  Asmodeus,  over  those  parts  of  the  city 
which  are  not  fashionable.  We  fly  through  the 
air  upon  a  slender  viaduct  supported  at  intervals 
by  iron  posts.  From  a  height  varying  from  the 
second  to  the  fourth  floor,  we  gaze  into  a  sort  of 
reddish  abyss,  mottled  with  posters  and  signs, 
swarming  with  a  countless  mass  of  passers  all  in 
a  hurry,  all  busy,  walking  rapidly,  none  of  them 
looking  about  them.  Besides,  there  is  nothing 
to  see,  —  nothing  but  the  endless  lines  of  tall  red 
house-fronts,  wearisome  in  their  uniformity.  With 
their  ugly,  ungainly  front  steps,  they  seem  to  say 
to  the  common  people :  "  We  have  gone  to  no 
expense ;  this  is  good  enough  for  poor  folks.  If 
they  can't  spend  more  than  four  or  five  hundred 
dollars  for  their  rooms,  so  much  the  worse  for 
them."  It  is  impossible  to  tell  one  from  another 
of  these  brick  or  sandstone  faces  without  a  shadow 


248  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

of  expression  or  originality.  Go  down  into  one 
of  these  streets,  and  you  will  be  astonished  to  see 
how  carefully  the  number  on  each  door  is  hidden 
instead  of  being  made  conspicuous  as  in  France. 
The  invisible  janitor  will  show  you  how  greatly 
misunderstood  the  good  Parisian  porter  has  been ; 
and  the  dirty,  ignorant,  familiar  Irish  maid-servant, 
by  comparison,  will  give  you  the  highest  idea  of 
the  humble  maid  of  all  work  in  the  "  old  country." 
No  doubt  ordinary  provisions,  considering  their 
wonderful  abundance,  are  no  dearer  at  market  here 
than  in  Paris ;  but  with  such  cooks,  one  is  reduced  to 
the  daily  steak,  —  always  steak.  If  they  know  how 
to  cook  it  properly,  they  consider  themselves  very 
skilful,  and  demand  higher  wages. 

It  is  therefore  easy  to  understand  the  preference 
for  boarding  shown  by  people  who  cannot  spend 
a  great  deal.  Rather  than  to  keep  house,  they 
choose  between  refuges  of  various  classes,  —  some 
being  extremely  elegant  and  others  equally  modest, 
—  where  food,  heat,  light,  and  service  are  provided 
in  a  lump  for  so  much  a  month  or  a  week.  Such  a 
resource  is  invaluable  to  women  who  have  a  career, 
from  which  they  do  not  wish  to  be  distracted  by 
domestic  cares.  Now,  in  America  these  women  are 
a  legion.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  the  teachers 
in  public  schools;  counting  only  these,  there  are 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  249 

245,098  to  123,287  men  teachers.  Then  there 
are  the  women  in  the  service  of  the  government: 
at  Washington  alone  there  are  6,105;  elsewhere 
2,104,  not  to  mention  the  6,285  post-mistresses. 
How  can  such  women  be  what  we  call  "  domestic  " 
women?  I  know  that  an  eminent  woman  mathe- 
matician of  Baltimore,  Mrs.  Christine  Ladd  Frank- 
lin, in  her  biography  of  Sophie  Germain,^  which 
seems  as  if  written  by  a  Frenchwoman,  protests 
against  the  prejudice  which  requires  a  learned 
woman  to  be  nothing  but  a  learned  woman.  She 
is  fully  justified.  Married  to  a  mathematician,  she 
affords  a  most  striking  contradiction  to  all  our  anti- 
quated ideas  of  rivalry  between  the  sexes,  at  the 
same  time  that  she  proves  that  the  most  abstract 
studies  are  compatible  with  the  duties  of  a  wife  and 
mother.  But  she  is  the  exception;  she  is  purely 
and  simply  an  instance  of  admirable  American 
equipoise,  which  may  be  contrasted  with  the  story 
of  a  Sophie  Kowalevsky. 

As  a  general  rule,  life  is  too  short  to  admit  of  so 
many  interests,  so  many  contrary  cares ;  and  it  is 
for  want  of  accepting  this  truth  that  people  run  the 
risk  of  doing  nothing  thoroughly.  Thus  an  Amer- 
ican girl  who  was  engaged  to  be  married  said  to 
me,  as  she  announced  her  approaching  marriage: 

1  "  The  Century  Magazine,"  October,  1894. 


250  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

"  We  will  have  a  home  of  our  own  when  our  affairs 
permit."  She  wrote ;  her  husband  went  to  some 
office;   each  of  them  belonged  to  a  club. 

If  the  club  and  boarding-house  are  useful  to  all 
busy  people  who  have  not  yet  made  a  fortune, 
how  much  more  necessary  must  they  be  to  the 
working-classes !  One  often  hears  in  New  York 
of  forewomen  who  are  paid  fifty  dollars  a  week; 
of  dressmakers  and  milliners  who  easily  earn  from 
two  dollars  and  a  half  to  three  dollars  a  day  in 
great  houses  which  rival  those  of  Paris.  This  may 
be.  All  artists  are  well  paid  in  America,  —  the 
artist  in  dresses  and  hats  as  well  as  the  rest.  But 
not  every  one  is  an  artist;  there  is  the  army  of 
artisans.  Do  you  know  that  a  mere  working-girl 
on  the  average  receives  but  five  dollars,  or  five 
dollars  and  a  quarter,  a  week?  Now,  the  lowest 
rents  are  tremendous ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  tene- 
ment-house in  the  crowded  districts  is  a  den  of  vice 
and  disease  which  defies  all  description.  Situated 
in  the  midst  of  gambling  hells,  drinking  saloons, 
and  low-class  dance  halls,  it  affords  its  occupants 
but  wretched  lodgings,  —  so  wretched  that  they 
may  be  tempted  to  seek  refuge  in  the  worst  places 
merely  that  they  may  be  warm.  Therefore  we 
can  but  pity  the  little  working-girl  who  has  no 
family,  or  who  has  left  her  family  from  that  desire 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  2$ I 

for  independence  which  may  be  called  a  national 
characteristic.  Her  fate  would  be  even  worse,  if 
help  did  not  come  from  above,  wholly  impersonal, 
and  so  disguised  that  it  cannot  be  confounded 
with  alms. 

Perhaps  this  feeling  of  solidarity  which  exists  be- 
tween rich  and  poor  is  more  natural  here  than  else- 
where in  a  society  where  great  fortunes  are  made 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  and  where  many  very 
wealthy  people  still  have  fresh  in  their  memory 
their  own  years  of  privation.  It  is  certain  that  one 
generous  soul  has  only  to  take  the  initiative  for  a 
stream  of  gifts  to  flow  in.  Thanks  to  these  gifts,  a 
home  suddenly  rises  in  a  respectable  part  of  the 
town,  —  a  large  house  amply  warmed,  with  broad 
stairs  leading  to  neat  rooms,  possibly  to  chambers 
with  three  or  four  beds  in  each,  but  neat  and  of 
generous  size.  Substantial  meals  are  served  at 
convenient  hours.  All  this  is  at  the  disposal  of 
working-girls;  it  costs  them  no  more  than  the 
mean  lodging.  They  have  books  besides ;  in  case 
of  sickness,  they  are  taken  care  of.  They  are  per- 
fectly free :  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  them  from 
receiving  their  friends,  men  and  women,  in  a  real 
parlor,  where  nothing  is  wanting,  not  even  a  piano ; 
and  where  little  parties  are  given  regularly,  the  only 
rule  being  that  they  must  be  in  by  ten  o'clock. 


252  THE   CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

Who  can  wonder  at  the  success  of  the  homes 
for  working-girls  which  are  now  so  numerous  in 
New  York,  although  there  are  not  enough  yet?  I 
visited  several  of  them,  with  which  I  have  but  one 
fault  to  find,  —  that  is,  they  give  a  poor  girl  habits 
which  her  future  husband  will  find  it  very  hard  to 
keep  up.  The  condition  for  admission  to  these 
homes  is,  in  addition  to  blameless  conduct,  the 
fact  of  not  earning  more  than  a  certain  fixed  sum. 
There  are  homes  of  all  kinds,  there  is  even  one 
for  ladies  who  earn  their  living  by  some  form  of 
literary  labor.  The  Ladies'  Christian  Union,  the 
mother  house,  in  a  fine  part  of  the  town,  holds 
eighty-five  boarders,  and  it  is  always  full ;  the 
price  of  board  supplies  the  table  and  housekeep- 
ing expenses,  the  other  expenses  being  paid  by 
the  originators  of  the  scheme.  One  branch  of  this 
house  is  especially  devoted  to  shop-girls.  There 
are  even  homes  for  the  very  young  girls  who  pay 
their  way  by  domestic  labor.  They  learn  to  use 
the  sewing-machine;  they  are  taught  laundry  work 
and  mending.  Girls  out  of  work  may  wait  for  a 
place  in  temporary  homes  at  a  low  price.  Prim- 
rose House  is  a  home  for  convalescents,  for  lonely 
girls  whose  wages  are  too  small  to  maintain  them. 
If  they  earn  a  dollar  a  week,  they  are  required  to 
pay  twenty-five  cents;    if  they  earn  two  dollars, 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  253 

fifty  cents,  and  so  on;  when  they  get  up  to  more 
than  five  dollars,  they  are  requested  to  go  to  some 
other  home.     All  clubs  are  also  registry  offices. 

Other  American  cities  have  followed  the  example 
set  by  Miss  Dodge.  The  excellent  Boston  Asso- 
ciations try  to  train  servants,  and  care  for  unknown 
and  friendless  girls  coming  from  a  distance,  send- 
ing their  agents  to  steamboats  and  railroad  stations 
to  give  advice  and  information  to  those  who  need 
them.  Baltimore  is  perhaps  the  city  where  the 
different  societies  act  together  best  to  promote 
their  useful  work,  —  Protestant  societies  taking 
in  the  Catholics  without  a  word  of  argument, 
and  St.  Vincent's  Home  throwing  open  its  doors 
to  Protestants  with  equal  tolerance.  Philadelphia, 
the  Quaker  City,  on  the  contrary,  is  quite  exclu- 
sive; but  it  is  not  to  be  outdone  by  any  other 
city  in  generosity.  Its  New  Century  Guild  of 
Working-Girls  is  famous.  Hundreds  of  young 
girls  go  there  for  lessons  in  the  manual  arts; 
the  time  will  soon  come  when  it  will  be  changed 
into  a  college  of  arts  and  trades,  which  in  its  way 
will  be  quite  equal  to  the  others.  And  the  same 
pains  are  invariably  taken  with  moral  develop- 
ment, as  is  proved  by  the  club  which  bears  the  odd 
name  of  "  Once  a  Day  Club."  The  members  sign 
an  agreement  to  do  some  service  once  a  day,  how- 


254  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

ever  small  it  may  be,  to  some  person  whom  they 
are  under  no  obligation  to  help.  A  night's  shelter 
on  a  vast  scale  is  a  part  of  some  of  these  homes. 
Restaurants  for  working-girls  are  often  connected 
with  large  dressing-rooms,  which  are  much  fre- 
quented by  shop-girls,  who  are  often  lodged  in 
crowded  quarters. 

In  the  West,  there  are  such  comfortable  board- 
ing-houses for  shop-girls  that  many  people  of 
quite  a  different  class  went  to  them  from  motives 
of  economy;  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  estab- 
lish rules  to  prevent  this  abuse.  At  St.  Paul, 
Minnesota,  a  Catholic  lady.  Miss  J.  Schley,  with 
a  capital  of  $125,  opened  a  home  for  young  girls, 
which  has  peculiar  features  to  recommend  it,  being 
the  very  abode  of  pleasure.  The  girls  who  live 
there  dance  to  the  piano  every  evening;  several 
times  during  the  winter,  they  invite  their  men 
friends  to  small  balls.  These  same  young  men 
may  also  join  the  girls'  literary  club,  which  has 
an  evening  of  music  and  recitations  once  a  fort- 
night. Nobody  can  join  the  society  until  they 
have  shown  themselves  capable  of  contributing 
in  some  way  to  the  amusement  of  the  others ;  con- 
sequently dullards  are  left  out,  which  cannot  often 
be  said  of  fashionable  circles.  All  over  thirty 
years  of  age,  and  all  widows  and  divorced  women 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  255 

are  also  ineligible.  These  favorable  conditions 
bring  about  many  marriages ;  they  are  celebrated 
in  the  institution  by  a  wedding  feast  given  to  the 
couple. 

But  I  am  really  afraid  of  giving  the  idea  that  a 
Utopian  existence  is  insured  to  American  working- 
girls  by  the  advance  of  sociology;  this  would  be 
the  very  reverse  of  the  truth.  They  struggle 
hard  for  their  maintenance,  in  spite  of  the  help 
given  them  by  the  churches  and  by  individuals. 
However,  their  situation  is  improving  daily,  for  the 
very  reasons  which  have  reduced  so  many  men  to 
the  sad  position  of  malcontents  and  unemployed. 
When  the  increasing  and  perfected  intervention 
of  machines  renders  the  expenditure  of  human 
strength  superfluous,  the  workman  leaves  to  the 
work-woman  that  part  of  the  work  which  requires 
only  attention  and  skill.  Of  course,  women  are 
content  with  moderate  wages.  Women  earn  less 
than  men  in  almost  all  branches,  from  teaching  to 
manual  labor;  we  protest  against  this  injustice, 
but  it  has  thus  far  been  impossible  to  remedy  it 
Is  it  not  something,  after  all,  to  have  provided  so 
many  openings  which  only  a  few  years  ago  did 
not  exist?  There  are  now  three  hundred  and 
forty-three  trades  at  which  American  women  can 
work. 


2S6  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

The  Chinese  are  persistent  rivals  of  the  weaker 
sex  even  in  those  industries  which  would  seem  to 
be  of  right  reserved  for  women.  The  Chinese  are 
marvellously  skilful  in  housework,  and  have  taken 
complete  possession  of  that  field  in  San  Francisco. 
They  steal  into  many  factories  where  women  are 
employed.  In  New  York  they  do  a  large  part  of 
the  laundry  work.  Are  they  indeed  men,  these 
hybrid  and  mysterious  beings  in  costumes  as  puz- 
zling as  their  sallow  faces  with  their  narrow  eyes? 
A  small  round  hat,  loose  trousers  Hke  a  divided 
skirt,  a  sort  of  jacket,  all  of  coarse  blue  cloth,  an 
umbrella  tucked  under  the  arm,  —  such  is  the  type 
which  all  Chinese  copy  so  closely  that  it  is  hard  to' 
tell  one  from  another  in  the  cars  and  on  boats. 
Their  immobility  is  somewhat  fantastic ;  hidden 
behind  their  big  sleeves,  they  seem,  like  cats,  to 
see  nothing.  In  the  streets  generally  so  ill-kept, 
and  turned  into  rivers  of  mud  whenever  it  rains, 
they  move  with  feline  speed,  shod  in  thick-soled 
white  slippers  which  never  have  the  slightest  stain. 
I  met  many  Chinese  men,  but  not  one  Chinese 
woman.  The  negroes  have  children  by  the  dozen ; 
the  Chinese,  in  spite  of  their  reputation  for  mul- 
tiplying, in  New  York  seem  to  be  all  bachelors. 
Honest  Yankee  traders  (I  speak  from  hearsay) 
smuggle  a  few  specimens  of  yellow  femininity  into 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  257 

the  dens  of  Chinatown  —  a  region  scarcely  to  be 
commended  — to  be  found  in  the  populous  Bowery, 
with  the  German,  Italian,  and  Jewish  quarters.  At 
night,  parti-colored  lanterns  swing  over  opium 
shops.  These  people,  of  very  doubtful  morality, 
are  marvellously  skilful  and  ingenious,  and  appar- 
ently succeed,  in  whatever  country  they  may  be, 
in  living  upon  little  or  nothing. 

But  to  come  back  to  working-girls,  the  lot  of  the 
best  of  them  is  as  much  as  possible  improved  by 
the  solicitude  of  which  they  are  the  object.  Women 
are  not  allowed  to  undertake  work  that  is  too  heavy 
or  tiresome.  The  European  custom  of  permitting 
women  to  work  in  the  fields  like  beasts  of  burden 
seems  to  Americans  barbarous.  The  idea  that 
women  should  be  employed  in  mines  is  abhor- 
rent. And  yet  the  system  of  tobacco  factories  and 
cotton  mills  is  hard  enough  in  its  way.  Many  lit- 
tle girls  begin  to  work  at  twelve  or  thirteen ;  the 
usual  age  is  fourteen.  After  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
their  number  decreases :  no  doubt  marriage  is 
the  cause  of  this.  The  name  "  working-girls  "  as 
applied  to  them  is  therefore  correct;  they  are  for 
the  most  part  young  girls. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  I  desire  to  acknowl- 
edge the  extreme  courtesy  with  which  I  was  received 
in  Washington,  in  the  office  of  the  Department  of 

17 


258  THE   CONDITION   OF   WOMAN 

Labor,  where  official  reports  of  priceless  value, 
made  up  from  investigations  carried  on  by  its 
agents  in  various  cities,  were  placed  at  my  ser- 
vice: women  are  supposed  to  appreciate  what 
concerns  their  sex,  better  than  men  do.  There 
were  statistics  carefully  drawn  up  and  ample  de- 
tails concerning  the  various  trades,  wages,  and 
habits  of  working-women,  the  general  condition 
of  their  life,  etc.  Even  the  question  of  morals  is 
considered,  —  not  thoroughly,  which  would  be 
impossible,  vice  and  misery  having  so  many  dark 
recesses,  but  from  the  standpoint  of  professional 
dissoluteness.  This  portion  of  the  report,  with 
other  details  relating  to  California,  is  only  fur- 
nished by  the  masculine  agents  of  the  department. 
If  we  can  trust  their  statements,  it  does  not  seem 
that  regular  prostitutes  are  recruited  from  the 
ranks  of  the  working-girls.  The  majority  of  lost 
women  come  straight  from  the  family  home  with- 
out any  previous  trade,  unless  it  be  that  of  servant, 
especially  servants  in  hotels,  who  gradually  sink 
lower  and  lower.  Many  of  them  are  foreigners. 
Emigration,  once  the  wealth  of  America,  is  now 
one  of  its  sore  spots.  The  scum  of  the  European 
world  now  collects  in  the  low  quarters  of  large 
cities,  and  remains  there. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  259 


Domestic  Life. 

Has  the  American  working-woman  when  mar- 
ried the  same  domestic  quahties  which  exist  in 
France  among  the  same  class?  I  hardly  think  so. 
At  any  rate,  these  qualities  are  not  inborn  with 
her,  as  they  are  with  the  Frenchwoman.  When 
a  committee  of  ladies  interested  in  the  lot  of  the 
young  girls  who  crowd  the  tobacco  and  hat  manu- 
factories of  Baltimore,  opened  a  housekeeping 
school  for  their  benefit,  some  four  years  ago,  and 
undertook  to  teach  them  what  a  Baltimorean  de- 
voted heart  and  soul  to  the  modern  question  of  the 
advancement  of  woman  —  Miss  Elizabeth  King  — 
does  not  hesitate  to  place  in  the  first  rank  of 
duties,  it  was  found  necessary  to  begin  at  the  very 
beginning.  The  poor  creatures  did  not  know  how 
to  sweep,  or  dust,  or  lay  a  table,  or  peel  a  potato. 
And  almost  all  were  pupils  of  the  public  schools, 
amply  instructed  in  regard  to  far  less  important 
points  !  Miss  King  tells  us  that  the  rapid  progress 
made,  by  which  the  family  table  in  many  a  labor- 
er's home  benefited,  made  the  cooking  classes  very 
popular.  The  girls  came  every  day  at  the  close  of 
their  grammar  school,  tired  though  they  were  after 
studying  all  day,  to  beg  for  a  lesson.     A  happy 


260  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

compromise  was  finally  made  between  the  cooking 
and  the  grammar  schools.  As  Miss  King  most 
justly  says,  primary  and  secondary  education  can- 
not be  considered  a  success  until  the  knowledge 
gained  is  applied  where  the  demand  for  it  is  uni- 
versally felt,  —  in  the  household.  May  all  reform- 
ers throughout  the  universe  become  converted  to 
her  opinion !  No  one  then  need  fear  that  the 
"  woman  question  "  moves  too  rapidly. 

There  is  just  now  an  attempt  in  America  to  ele- 
vate in  the  esteem  of  woman  that  neglected  realm, 
the  household,  by  labelling  it  "  domestic  science."- 
Domestic  science  is  taught,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
in  public  schools  and  Christian  Associations.  Girls 
thus  learn  to  do  systematically  those  things  other- 
wise done  heedlessly  and  somewhat  at  haphazard. 
The  reason  for  everything  is  given,  the  nutritive 
qualities  of  each  article  of  diet  are  explained,  the 
anatomy  of  the  animal  is  the  subject  of  study,  as 
are  also  the  action  of  water  and  heat  in  the  pre- 
paration of  food.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
pedantry  be  not  a  dangerous  element :  an  old  pro- 
verb of  the  country  best  acquainted  with  the  subject 
tells  us  that  good  cooks  are  born  not  made.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  the  important  point  is  to  rouse 
by  any  means  a  spirit  of  emulation  among  Amer- 
ican women  in  this  field,  which  is  not  to  their  taste. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  261 

The  facilities  offered  by  boarding-houses,  clubs, 
and  restaurants  have  utterly  destroyed  in  many 
of  them  those  qualities  which  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  regarding  as  pre-eminently  those  of  their  sex. 
The  result  is  that  the  almost  imperceptible  ma- 
chinery whose  working  is  such  a  matter  of  course 
in  France  that  we  scarcely  think  of  it,  is  wanting  in 
almost  all  homes  where  dollars  do  not  abound. 

We  certainly  meet  with  many  excellent  house- 
mistresses  in  the  United  States,  not  only  among 
those  who  have  a  French  cook,  an  English  coach- 
man, and  pay  their  maid  thirty  dollars  a  month, 
but  even  among  those  of  secondary  rank,  who  in 
order  to  avoid  constant  domestic  changes,  and  to 
keep  up  at  least  an  appearance  of  what  we  call 
"  easy  circumstances,"  spend  more  than  would  be 
necessary  in  France  to  obtain  luxury.  In  the 
small  towns  and  remote  villages  of  the  Eastern 
States  undegenerate  heiresses  of  old  Puritan  tra- 
ditions recall  the  fact  that  their  ancestresses,  de- 
scendants of  the  best  families  of  the  English  middle 
classes,  did  their  own  work  and  practised  that 
thriftiness  which  is  now  regarded  as  meanness. 
But  you  nowhere  find  that  cunningly  disguised 
industry  which  enables  the  Parisian  woman  to  cut 
a  good  figure  at  a  very  moderate  cost.  The 
extravagant  price  of  all  superfluities  prevents  this ; 


262  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

and  so  does  a  repugnance  to  stoop  to  duties  which 
may  as  well  be  called  by  their  true  name,  —  those 
of  the  husband's  servant  maid.  The  American 
woman  of  to-day,  whether  she  be  an  operative  or 
an  artisan,  will  resolutely  deny  that  such  is  her 
destiny  in  this  world ;  she  considers  that  it  is  quite 
as  much  the  man's  place  to  take  care  of  the  baby,  to 
go  to  market,  etc.,  as  it  is  hers.  Rough  tasks  are 
not  for  her.  It  is  men  who  do  the  selling  in  the 
market  stalls.  You  will  never  see  a  woman  sitting 
at  the  desk  in  the  butcher  shop  or  the  grocery 
belonging  to  her  husband,  helping  him,  ready  to 
assume  the  intelligent  charge  of  the  business  if 
the  head  of  the  house  should  be  called  away.  No  ; 
the  father  of  the  family,  be  he  a  millionnaire  or  only 
a  poor  fellow,  must  provide  for  his  wife's  wants. 
If  she  chooses  to  work  too,  it  is  usually  in  some 
wholly  different  direction.  She  will  not  be  a  part- 
ner, a  humble  satellite ;  she  must  fly  with  her  own 
wings  wherever  it  seems  good  to  her. 

It  is  natural  that  a  people  who  earn  so  much 
and  spend  so  much  should  scorn  the  petty  con- 
trivance of  that  economy  which  in  France  is 
encouraged.  The  epithet  "  mean,"  the  most  in- 
sulting of  all,  would  speedily  be  applied  to  them. 
Waste,  on  the  contrary,  is  synonymous  in  Amer- 
ica   with    magnificence.      In    hotels,    the    orders 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  263 

given  to  the  men,  black  or  white,  who  wait  on 
the  table,  seem  to  be  that  they  are  to  ruin  and 
to  lose  everything.  In  private  houses  the  ser- 
vants are  but  too  often  possessed  of  the  same 
purpose.  And  how  hard  it  is  to  find  and  to  keep 
those  servants,  bad  as  they  are !  To  expect  any 
affection  from  them  would  be  presumptuous.  The 
general  love  of  travelling  prevents  this.  Masters 
dismiss  their  servants  as  easily  as  the  latter  quit 
them.  With  equal  indifference,  many  people  of 
ample  means  let  their  town  or  country  house  to 
strangers,  during  an  absence  of  greater  or  less 
duration.  They  are  surprised  that  they  cannot  in 
the  same  way  find  a  furnished  house  in  France, — 
some  hereditary  castle  or  other  to  let  for  a  couple 
of  seasons..  And  we  cannot  make  them  under- 
stand our  dislike  for  this  sort  of  thing,  —  a  dislike 
as  unknown  to  the  English  as  it  is  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, two  nations  who  pride  themselves  on  being 
the  only  people  who  understand  the  meaning  of 
"  home,"  for  which  they  say  we  have  no  word  ! 

The  problem  of  domestic  life  which  exists  every- 
where in  America,  and  which  can  only  be  solved 
by  large  supplies  of  money,  becomes  even  more 
complicated  in  the  Western  States.  One  of  my 
first  surprises  in  Chicago  was  the  singular  lecture 
given  by  a  Denver  lady,  Mrs.  Coleman  Stuckert, 


264  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

upon  a  plan  of  her  invention  which  would  simplify 
matters  amazingly.  To  illustrate  her  discourse, 
she  first  unrolled  a  series  of  plans  and  architectural 
drawings,  representing  houses  of  all  dimensions 
and  all  prices,  in  ultra-composite  styles  which  she 
dubbed  Venetian,  Roman,  Spanish,  and  I  know 
not  what  all.  These  structures  placed  at  the  ser- 
vice of  the  best-lined  purses  and  within  the  reach 
also  of  the  scantiest,  were  to  form  a  species  of 
city  provided  with  all  the  modern  instruments 
furnished  by  steam  and  electricity,  with  wagons 
swift  as  lightning  depositing  from  door  to  door 
the  meals  ordered  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, —  meals  simple  or  magnificent  as  desired, 
the  fortunate  inhabitants  having  to  take  no  trouble, 
save  to  pick  up  the  manna  apparently  dropped 
from  heaven.  In  the  centre  of  the  square  sur- 
rounded by  these  separate  dwellings  were  luxurious 
buildings  common  to  all,  where  any  one  could  at 
pleasure  engage  a  ball-room,  arrange  a  banquet, 
or  give  any  kind  of  an  entertainment.  Comfort, 
economy,  varied  resources  both  material  and  in- 
tellectual, from  a  library  to  a  gymnasium,  —  noth- 
ing was  wanting  to  the  families  thus  united  in  a 
co-operative  society,  without  any  inconvenient  con- 
tact, without  any  occasion  for  acquaintance  unless 
they  desired  it.     The  realization  of  such  a  scheme 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  265 

would  be  a  decisive  step  toward  the  dreams  of 
the  year  2CXX)  as  conceived  by  Mr.  Bellamy,  whose 
book,  by  the  way,  seems,  upon  a  second  reading  in 
the  United  States,  far  less  fantastic  than  when  opened 
in  France  for  the  first  time.  Mrs.  Coleman  Stuck- 
ert  interested  me  by  her  fervent  convictions,  her 
prodigious  fluency,  by  all  that  she  told  us  of  her 
own  experiences  as  a  house-mistress  and  as  the 
mother  of  a  family  in  the  Queen  City  of  the  plains, 
which,  according  to  Hepworth  Dixon,  did  not  con- 
tain a  single  woman  in  1866,  and  which  now  has 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants !  It 
is  her  intention  to  visit  Europe,  to  exhibit  economic 
plans  destined,  she  says,  to  meet  with  universal 
success.  It  would  have  been  useless  for  me  to 
tell  her  that  Europeans  are  not  accustomed  to 
associations ;  that  however  republican  the  French 
may  have  become  they  still  keep  servants;  and 
that  we  still  distrust,  being  prejudiced  persons, 
sauces  made  all  at  once  and  for  so  many  people. 
I  therefore  confined  myself  to  compliments.  She 
will  have  to  be  quick  about  getting  out  a  patent, 
for  it  struck  me,  in  travelling  through  the  different 
States,  that  her  idea  had  also  occurred  to  others, 
with  improvements  of  various  sorts,  —  a  certain 
pneumatic  tube,  for  instance,  through  which  din- 
ners could  be  despatched  like  so  many  letters  or 


266  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

telegrams,  would   be   an   advantageous   exchange 
for  the  provision  wagon,  electric  though  it  be. 

All  these  projects,  received  with  favor,  at  least 
in  theory,  show  a  growing  tendency,  in  spite  of 
the  success  of  cooking  schools,  to  rest  content 
with  boarding-house  and  hotel  life  more  or  less 
disguised.  The  Frenchwoman  would  never  be 
satisfied  with  it,  because  she  clings,  poor  as  she 
may  be,  to  her  home.  But  we  must  remember 
that  an  American  woman,  rich  though  she  may 
be,  thoroughly  loves  all  sorts  of  camp  life.  She 
enjoys  herself  in  summer  in  a  Saratoga  caravan- 
sary, where  two  thousand  beds  are  at  the  service 
of  those  who  drink  the  waters,  where  everything 
is  vast  and  splendid.  In  town  she  likes  to  invite 
her  friends  to  a  restaurant.  I  saw  the  girls  known 
as  "  bachelor  girls "  call  for  the  bill  of  fare  as 
naturally  as  if  they  were  bachelors  indeed.  An 
amiable  Philadelphian  who  took  me  to  her  club, 
where  she  graciously  put  me  down  as  a  temporary 
member,  explained  its  advantages.  "  It 's  very  con- 
venient," she  said,  "  when  my  husband  is  away. 
Then  I  breakfast  here ;  I  make  appointments  with 
my  friends;  I  find  the  newspapers.  There  are 
even  bedrooms  for  those  of  us  who  may  want  to 
come  in  for  a  day  or  two  from  the  country."  And 
yet  the  lady  who  said  this  was  one  of  the  most 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  267 

accomplished  house-mistresses  whom  I  met  in 
America,  making  very  good  use,  as  is  the  custom  as 
we  go  farther  South,  of  colored  people  as  servants. 
Liberal  as  the  North  prides  itself  on  being,  it 
has  a  horror  of  familiar  contact  with  negroes. 
Their  transient  service  seems  acceptable  on  rail- 
road trains  and  steamboats,  in  certain  hotels,  etc., 
the  more  so  since  they  are  generally  very  attentive 
and  very  assiduous;  but  tolerance  stops  there. 
It  is  not  until  we  reach  Baltimore  that  this  feeling 
disappears  for  good  and  all.  Baltimoreans  and 
Washingtonians  do  not  yet  go  so  far  as  to  pray  in 
the  same  church  with  the  race  of  Ham ;  but  they 
employ  them  in  the  kitchen,  the  stable,  and  the 
house,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  they  do  well.  The 
negro  is  moulded  by  his  surroundings.  Left  to  him- 
self, he  may  be  the  most  disagreeable  of  brutes; 
placed  with  vulgar  people,  he  becomes  as  familiar 
and  as  insolent  as  they;  but  with  good  masters, 
he  is  often  the  most  perfect  of  servants.  I  never 
tasted  better  cooking  than  that  of  a  good  black 
cook  in  the  South.  She  does  not  require,  for  the 
development  of  this  sort  of  genius,  the  special 
classes  where  young  Northern  girls  condescend  to 
study  an  inferior  branch  of  chemistry  with  the  aid 
of  all  the  perfect  machinery  which  does  away  with 
drudgery.    The  negress  proves  that  intuition  is 


268  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

superior  to  method  when  it  comes  to  seasoning; 
she  may  become  a  cordon  bleu  emeritus  in  the 
hands  of  one  of  those  house-mistresses  such  as  are 
to  be  found  in  New  Orleans,  who,  vying  with  the 
most  famous  gastronomers  of  France,  scorn  canned 
food,  crackers,  and  other  *'  educational "  biscuit, 
and  the  more  or  less  adulterated  food  products 
lauded  by  American  puffery.  Nowhere  in  the 
world  can  better  cooking  be  found  than  in  Louisi- 
ana. The  South  has  not  yielded  in  this  respect 
to  the  influences  of  its  victor;  it  evidently  retains 
the  French  traditions  of  early  days,  which  Creole 
spices  and  flavorings  are  far  from  injuring.  Appe- 
tizing odors  always  escape  from  the  humblest 
negro  cabin;  it  is  quite  the  reverse  in  Northern 
country  homes.  A  landscape  painter,  who  had 
returned  to  New  York  after  a  long  stay  in  France, 
declared  to  me  his  intention  of  going  back,  not  only 
because  he  despaired  of  subjecting  to  the  exigen- 
cies of  art  the  American  country,  which  lacks  de- 
tails, and  which  at  its  finest  moment  is  of  so  gaudy  a 
splendor,  but  more  especially  because  his  stomach 
could  not  endure  the  fare  provided  by  the  country 
inns.  O  Barbizon  !  O  Marlotte  !  O  Douarnenez ! 
O  humble  paradise  of  artists !  How  you  were  re- 
gretted, you  and  your  peasants,  in  head-kerchiefs 
or  in  caps,  who  unfailingly  hand  down  from  genera- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  269 

tion  to  generation  the  secret  of  making  an  omelette 
and  stewing  a  rabbit !  There  are  no  caps  and  no 
head-kerchiefs,  there  are  no  peasants,  in  the  United 
States.  At  a  football  match  between  two  villages 
in  the  State  of  Maine,  I  saw  the  crowd  of  rustics, 
similar  at  every  point  to  a  crowd  of  middle  class 
citizens  and  gathered  together,  moreover,  for  a 
kind  of  sport  which  is  the  favorite  amusement  of 
all  classes  alike.  The  football  game  between  Har- 
vard and  Yale  filled  the  newspapers  for  almost  a 
week.  The  country  game  no  doubt  had  less 
solemnity  about  it,  but  there  was  quite  as  much 
animation  and  spirit  on  the  part  of  both  players 
and  spectators,  there  being  plenty  of  women 
among  the  latter.  The  players,  handsome  youths, 
in  their  fighting  gear,  as  soon  as  the  game  was 
over,  put  on  hideous  overcoats  which  gave  them 
a  horribly  common  air.  The  pretty  country  dam- 
sels were  quite  as  elegant  as  the  city  working- 
girls,  who  wear  the  latest  fashions  and  often  quite 
expensive  materials,  furs  and  jewels;  why  not,  if 
they  like  to  spend  all  they  earn  on  dress?  A 
Philadelphia  lady  told  me  that  she  felt  obliged 
to  request  her  maidservant  not  to  wait  at  table 
with  diamonds  in  her  ears! 

"It  is  my  pleasure  to  wear  my  fortune  about 
me,"  quietly  answered  the  girl. 


270  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

"  And  it  is  my  right  to  dismiss  you,"  replied 
her  mistress. 

We  must  remember  that  the  class  of  servants 
has  not  existed  in  the  United  States  more  than 
two  hundred  years.  American  women  once  gloried 
in  looking  after  their  houses;  but  those  primitive 
days  are  long  past.  They  correspond  to  the  time 
when  women  were  not  permitted  to  teach,  and 
only  showed  their  capacity  in  this  direction  in 
Sunday  Schools.  America  was  then  poor;  with 
riches  came  a  train  of  wants  and  of  idle  moments. 
There  must  be  "  help, "  assistants,  who  at  first 
were  the  equals  of  their  mistresses  (let  us  take  the 
word  in  the  sense  of  "  protectress,"  which  is  the 
true  one),  and  were  treated  as  such ;  that  is,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  There  followed  very  simple, 
very  patriarchal  customs,  worthy  of  a  republic. 
Then  the  flood  of  Irish  emigration  changed  every- 
thing: the  "help,"  who  were  often  literary  also, 
thanks  to  the  excellent  public  schools,  vanished 
before  the  invasion.  Now  Italians  bid  fair  to  re- 
place the  Irish  as  servants,  the  latter  going  into 
politics ;  the  Italians  are  content  with  lower  wages, 
and  live  more  temperately.  What  has  become  of 
the  "  help  "  of  former  days?  They  are  employed 
in  business  or  in  trade,  as  stenographers,  type- 
writers, journalists,  "  interviewers  "  perhaps.     The 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  2/1 

rage  for  the  human  document  is  carried  to  excess, 
almost  to  madness  in  America.  Hundreds  of 
women,  to  say  nothing  of  men,  lie  in  wait  for  every 
passer,  to  take  him  metaphorically  by  the  throat, 
to  wrest  from  him  the  latest  news,  sensational 
subjects,  —  sometimes  to  invent  things  that  he 
never  said,  to  arrange,  in  any  case,  and  to  com- 
plete in  their  own  way,  and  to  give  the  needful 
savor  to  the  real  conversation.  How  many 
feminine  interviewers  I  have  seen  who  were  very 
superior  to  their  profession,  and  who  may  have 
had  a  college  diploma  in  their  pockets ! 

Myriads  of  women  write,  some  with  talent ;  but 
teaching  is  the  refuge  of  the  great  majority.  The 
Normal  Schools  in  thirty-eight  States  number 
twenty-three  thousand  pupils,  and  of  these  seventy- 
one  per  cent  are  women.  Try^  to  send  back  this 
swarm  of  women,  set  free  by  work,  to  the  petty 
tasks  of  the  household  !  Only  try  to  prove  to  the 
least  interesting  of  them  that  it  is  better  to  make 
a  pretty  gown,  or  to  cook  a  dainty  dish,  than  to 
produce  poor  literary  work,  and  above  all  to  do 
reporting !  The  superiority  which  permits  one 
to  recognize  that  the  humblest  things  may  be  made 
as  noble  as  the  highest,  by  the  way  in  which  they 
are  done,  is  very  rare  in  every  land.  And  what 
they  particularly  desire  to  establish  is  the  absolute 


2/2  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

equality  of  the  sexes.  I  heard  an  eminent  woman 
seriously  boast  of  a  certain  industrial  school  where 
the  boys  were  taught  a  little  sewing  and  the  girls 
a  little  carpentry !  These  are  exaggerations,  from 
which  they  will  recover. 

Industrial  Schools.  —  Agricultural  Insti- 
tute AT  Hampton. 

Following  in  the  train  of  the  rich  citizens  who 
have  lavished  largess  upon  colleges,  there  already 
arise  other  benefactors  whose  no  less  splendid 
legacies  and  gifts  flow  into  quite  a  different  chan- 
nel, —  that  of  industrial  education.  It  is  but  a 
few  years  since  its  advantages  were  recognized, 
but  the  public  mind  is  already  beginning  to  be 
pretty  generally  occupied  with  it.  Possibly  the 
mediocrity  of  many  so  called  universities  which 
have  sprung  up  at  random  among  genuine  ones, 
possibly  also  their  disadvantages,  which  consist  in 
lending,  as  some  one  has  very  aptly  said,  large 
names  to  little  things,  have  done  much  to  bring 
about  this  reaction.  In  Philadelphia  I  visited 
Drexel  Institute,  named  for  its  founder,  —  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  just  sufficed  to 
pay  for  the  building  and  splendid  fitting  up  of  the 
edifice.     It  was  opened  to  both  sexes  in  1891,  and 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  27.^ 

already  has  fifteen  hundred  pupils.  All  aptitudes 
for  the  various  professional  studies  are  developed 
by  excellent  classes,  where  applied  mathematics, 
designing,  natural  science,  and  mechanics  find  a 
place.  Drexel  Institute,  moreover,  contains  very 
rich  collections  of  all  sorts,  which  make  it  a  school 
of  aesthetics  very  precious  in  a  land  where  public 
taste  is  not  yet  fully  formed.  No  doubt  recent 
exhibitions  have  led  to  very  happy  results  in  this 
particular.  They  have  brought  France  into  the 
foreground :  educators  invariably  allude  to  France 
when  they  wish  to  praise  the  meaning  of  form  and 
grace.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  great  disadvantage  for 
a  people  not  to  have  constantly  before  them  the 
monuments  and  masterpieces  of  every  sort,  daily 
contact  with  which  teaches  even  the  most  ignorant 
of  the  French  to  understand  beauty  without  com- 
ment or  explanation.  Until  now  it  was  a  privi- 
leged class  alone  who  profited  by  the  raids  made 
upon  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  filling  up  the 
museums  and  galleries  of  great  cities.  Thanks  to 
professional  schools,  art  studies  will  be  universally 
spread  abroad,  gradually  modifying  too  purely 
practical  and  utilitarian  traits.  The  vast  gymna- 
sium, one  of  the  striking  features  of  Drexel  Insti- 
tute, is,  in  accordance  with  the  founder's  idea,  used 
to  promote  this  advance.     I  observed  a  singular 

18 


274  THE  CONDITION   OF  WOMAN 

detail,  —  photographs  of  students,  a  young  man  and 
woman,  in  a  state  of  complete  nudity,  representing 
the  average  of  their  fellow  students.  This  is  an 
application  of  the  discoveries  of  modern  science 
to  Greek  art,  which  America  claims  to  have  in- 
spired. The  Greeks  elevated  a  feeling  for  beauty 
into  a  form  of  worship ;  they  saw  beauty  not  only 
in  images  carved  from  marble  or  stone,  but  in  the 
perfect  forms  of  youth  developed  by  the  national 
games.  This  is  the  reason  for  this  exhibition, 
which  some  might  think  indecent.  It  has  also  a 
useful  purpose,  —  the  physical  progress  gained  by 
the  use  of  the  trapeze,  the  dumb-bells  and  the 
latest  Swedish  apparatus  can  thus  be  compared 
from  year  to  year.  But  how  far  we  are  from  the 
old  Puritan  spirit ! 

It  is  in  the  South  that  schools  of  arts  and  trades 
have  grown  most  rapidly  during  the  last  twenty- 
five  years.  It  was  found  necessary,  after  the  war, 
to  furnish  some  means  of  subsistence  to  the  thou- 
sands of  negroes  suddenly  set  free  by  a  single  stroke 
of  the  pen,  and  at  the  same  time  to  raise  them  by 
a  certain  amount  of  intellectual  culture  to  the  level 
of  their  new  rank  as  American  citizens,  which 
nothing  had  prepared  them  to  hold. 

One  of  the  men  who  from  the  first  devoted  him- 
self most  zealously  to  the  work  of  reconstruction 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  275 

was  General  Armstrong,  the  founder  of  Hampton 
Institute  (Normal  and  Agricultural).  He  had  in 
his  veins  the  blood  of  the  missionary  and  the  peda- 
gogue :  his  father,  one  of  the  first  Americans  who 
went  forth  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  was  made  minister  of  public  instruction 
by  the  king  of  Hawaii.  Even  before  he  returned 
to  the  United  States  to  finish  his  education,  young 
Armstrong  saw  that  the  advance  of  piety  among 
people  almost  innocently  licentious  is  as  nothing 
if  it  does  not  serve  as  the  basis  for  the  formation 
of  character.  He  also  noted  that  the  Mission 
School,  a  purely  elementary  and  professional 
school,  did  far  more  good  in  Hawaii  than  the 
government  schools,  whose  aims  were  much  more 
ambitious.  These  memories  helped  him,  when  he 
undertook  to  elevate  the  negroes,  who  by  certain 
impulsive  and  childish  traits  reminded  him  of  the 
natives  among  whom  his  childhood  was  passed. 

During  the  war  of  secession,  Samuel  Armstrong 
commanded  colored  troops;  he  was  struck  by  their 
obedience  to  discipline,  by  their  devotion  to  offi- 
cers who  treated  them  well,  and  by  their  eager- 
ness and  dash  in  battle.  He  saw  black  soldiers 
studying  the  alphabet  beside  the  camp-fire,  and 
concluded  that  they  must  be  given  every  possible 
chance   to   become   like  other  men.      Amid   the 


276  THE  CONDITION    OF  WOMAN 

changing  fortunes  of  a  long  and  bloody  strug- 
gle, he  seemed  to  have  a  vision  of  the  duty 
which  awaited  him ;  and  circumstances  served  him 
strangely  well.  Being  given  charge  of  ten  coun- 
ties in  Virginia,  to  settle  negro  affairs  and  regulate 
the  relations  between  the  two  races,  he  made  his 
headquarters  at  Hampton,  close  by  Old  Point  Com- 
fort, where  the  first  pioneers  landed  in  1608,  where 
the  first  cargo  of  slaves  was  disembarked,  where  the 
first  Indian  was  baptized.  In  sight  of  these  shores 
the  decisive  battle  between  the  "  Merrimac  "  and 
the  "  Monitor"  was  fought;  at  this  point  General 
Grant  settled  the  plan  for  his  final  campaign.  Gen- 
eral Armstrong  judged  that  a  place  filled  with 
historic  and  strategic  memories,  easily  accessible, 
both  from  the  North  and  the  South,  both  by  water 
and  by  rail,  destined  to  great  commercial  and  mari- 
time growth,  situated  in  the  best  conditions  for 
health,  might  well  be  chosen  as  the  home  of  the 
school  of  his  dreams.^ 

Already,  directly  after  the  war,  a  noble  colored 
woman,  Mrs.  Mary  Peake,  had  gathered  about  her, 
on  the  site  of  Camp  Hamilton,  where  six  thousand 
dead  now  rest  in  a  national  cemetery,  hundreds  of 
black  children,  the  first  school  for  free  negroes,  estab- 

1  Twenty-two  Years'  Work.    Hampton  Normal  School  Press, 
1893. 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  277 

lished  with  the  help  of  the  Missionary  Association. 
This  same  Association  largely  aided  General  Arm- 
strong in  the  purchase  of  a  vast  estate  on  Hampton 
River,  and  then  requested  him  to  become  the  head 
of  the  Institute.  He  had  never  dreamed,  in  his  great 
modesty,  of  doing  more  than  suggesting  and  help- 
ing, not  of  directing;  but  he  was  ready  for  the 
work,  which  began  on  a  very  small  scale,  in  1868, 
with  two  teachers  and  fifteen  scholars.  The  num- 
ber only  too  quickly  increased.  Old  ambulance 
barracks  which  had  been  abandoned  were  per- 
force turned  into  dormitories  and  workshops,  while 
they  waited  for  the  funds,  which  were  not  long  in 
coming,  —  the  government  having,  in  the  mean 
time,  appropriated  three  millions  and  a  half  for 
the  education  of  a  million  colored  children.  The 
chief  institutions,  now  prospering,  had  already  been 
thrown  open.  Hampton  received  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  as  her  share,  and  the  necessary  buildings 
were  put  up.  In  1870,  a  special  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia  secured  the  incorporation  of 
the  new  school,  declaring  it  independent  of  any  asso- 
ciation and  of  any  sect,  as  well  as  of  the  govern- 
ment. "  Self-help "  was  its  motto ;  it  desired  no 
control. 

General   Armstrong's  ideas   at   first   found    but 
few  partisans;   but  little  faith  was  felt  in  manual 


2/8  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

labor,  the  plea  being  that  it  would  not  bring  in 
enough.  It  brought  in  a  great  deal  from  a  moral 
standpoint,  by  rehabilitating  labor,  which  had  been 
degraded  by  slavery.  "  Like  all  men,"  said  Arm- 
strong, "  the  negro  is  what  his  past  has  made  him." 
The  general's  purpose  was,  to  exorcise  that  past, 
to  remedy  the  influences  of  heredity  and  surround- 
ings, to  test  character,  for  the  promotion  of  which 
he  cared  ten  thousand  times  more  than  he  did  for 
remunerative  and  intelligent  work;  then  to  send 
out  a  select  number  to  preach  by  word  and  by 
example.  To  this  end  he  devoted  his  noble  life ; 
and  he  died  last  year  content,  asking  that  he  might 
have  the  simple  funeral  of  a  soldier,  a  place  in  the 
school  cemetery  with  his  students,  without  dis- 
tinction of  any  kind,  with  no  eulogy  over  his 
grave.  Some  of  his  last  words  were :  "  I  do  not 
care  for  a  biography ;  .  .  .  they  never  tell  the 
whole  truth.  The  truth  of  a  life  is  hidden  deep 
within  us ;  ...  we  scarce  know  it  ourselves,  but 
God  knows  it.  I  have  faith  in  His  mercy.  .  .  . 
Hampton  has  been  a  blessing  to  me ;  it  has  given 
me  for  friends  and  helpers  the  best  of  my  fellow- 
citizens;  and  it  was  a  happy  fortune  to  be  able 
to  do  some  good  to  that  whole  race  set  free  by 
the  war;  to  be  able  also  indirectly  to  serve  the 
vanquished.  .  .  .  Few  men  have  been   so   happy 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  279 

as  I.  I  have  never  been  called  to  make  any  sacrifice. 
It  seems  as  if  I  had  been  guided  in  everything. 
Prayer  is  the  great  power  in  this  world ;  it  keeps 
us  close  to  God.  My  prayers  were  weak  and  in- 
constant ;  but  they  were  the  best  that  I  had.  And 
now  I  am  eager  to  see  another  world.  No  doubt 
everything  there  will  be  perfectly  natural.  How 
can  any  one  fear  death?  It  is  a  friend.  God  and 
country  first,  ourselves  last." 

This  outline  of  General  Armstrong's  sentiments 
may  be  of  use  as  showing  what  his  influence  was 
Upon  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  stu- 
dents of  both  sexes,  —  counting  those  of  all  the 
schools  founded  by  Hampton  graduates  after  the 
pattern  of  the  mother  school,  in  Alabama,  Virginia, 
and  North  Carolina.  Other  pupils  of  the  Institute, 
both  men  and  women,  are  doing  missionary  work 
in  Florida,  Kentucky,  South  Carolina,  and  Texas. 
At  Hampton  itself  there  are  now  six  hundred  and 
fifty  pupils  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
twenty-eight,  under  the  care  of  eighty  officers  and 
instructors,  half  of  whom  are  divided  among  the 
various  industrial  departments.  Does  it  not  seem 
marvellous  that  among  boys  and  girls  of  that  age 
and  race,  living  in  separate  buildings  no  doubt, 
but  meeting  constantly  at  meals,  in  class-rooms,  at 
various  meetings,  no  scandal  has  ever  occurred? 


280  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Are  we  to  believe  that  the  presence  of  so  just  a 
man  as  Samuel  Armstrong  acted  upon  them  as  the 
very  shadow  of  the  divine  presence? 

The  task  of  the  Rev.  H.  B.  Frissell,  who  has  suc- 
ceeded the  founder,  will  be  most  difficult,  although 
a  decided  impulse  has  already  been  given  to 
the  work.  The  progress  made  is  extraordinary, 
even  from  a  physical  point  of  view;  the  ravages 
of  consumption  are  greatly  lessened,  nervous 
affections,  once  very  common,  are  now  relatively 
rare  and  there  is  seldom  a  case  of  hysteria  since 
the  scholars  have  learned  that  a  certain  want  of 
balance  is  considered  the  characteristic  feature  of 
their  race.  A  very  distinguished  woman  doctor 
lives  at  the  Institute. 

The  annual  cost  of  Hampton  is  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  the  work  of  the  students  being 
deducted.  This  sum  is  covered  by  the  subsidies 
granted  by  Congress  and  by  private  gifts.  Amer- 
ica has  ceased  to  count  the  sacrifices  required  to 
educate  the  negro :  the  thousands  of  free  schools 
opened  in  the  South  for  their  benefit,  require  of 
the  old  Slave  States  an  annual  tax  of  very  nearly 
four  million  dollars.  The  North  supports  twenty 
colleges,  most  of  which  are  under  the  charge  of 
churches,  and  at  which  five  thousand  adults  are 
prepared  for  liberal  careers;  the  women  make 
their  mark  as  teachers. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  28 1 

At  New  Orleans  I  saw  a  black  damsel  teaching 
Latin  with  great  authority  to  a  class  of  gentlemen 
of  the  same  color:  her  short  woolly  hair  carefully 
twisted  into  a  correct  knot,  a  little  embroidered 
handkerchief  thrust  into  her  belt,  a  flower  in  her 
button-hole,  she  affected  Boston  ways.  I  also  saw 
a  class  of  little  negro  girls  with  faces  like  monkeys, 
studying  Greek,  and  the  disgust  expressed  by  their 
former  masters  seemed  to  me  quite  justified.  Free 
though  I  am  from  any  prejudice  against  color,  I 
consider  the  classes  in  sewing,  cooking  and  laun- 
dry work  established  by  good  General  Armstrong 
far  more  useful.  He  also  encouraged  floriculture 
and  trained  women  gardeners.  Nurses,  of  great 
renown  in  the  neighborhood,  are  sent  out  from  the 
little  hospital  in  the  Institute  grounds.  This  prac- 
tical knowledge  does  not  prevent,  quite  the  con- 
trary, the  Hampton  students  from  being  in  great 
request  as  primary  and  religious  teachers  of  chil- 
dren. Almost  all  of  them  teach,  no  matter  what 
their  real  profession  may  be.  In  time  we  shall 
probably  find  women  in  the  majority  among  teach- 
ers of  colored  schools  as  is  the  case  with  white 
schools.  The  men  will  make  a  specialty  of 
various  trades,  having  a  turn  for  mechanics  and 
singular  skill  with  their  fingers.  All  trades  are 
taught  them     at     Hampton,     although    General 


282  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

Armstrong    particularly   favored    agriculture    and 
although  preparing  timber  is  the  chief  business. 

Perhaps  the  excellent  spirit  of  this  model  Insti- 
tute may  exorcise  some  of  the  perils  caused  by  the 
presence  in  America  of  eight  millions  of  individuals 
who  never  asked  to  go  there,  but  who  cannot  be 
driven  forth.  Negroes  properly  trained  will  find 
fresh  outlets,  and  above  all  they  will  benefit  by  the 
best  of  moral  gymnastics,  that  which  consists  in 
earning  all  that  they  spend,  in  working  with  their 
hands  all  day  in  order  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
studying  at  night,  even  if  it  take  years  and  years 
to  gain  a  laborious  victory  over  the  longed  for 
knowledge.  Some  students,  after  following  a  trade 
abroad,  return,  and  that  more  than  once,  to  the 
school-room  benches.  These  young  men,  it  seems 
to  me,  assert  the  growth  of  the  black  race  better 
than  they  could  do  by  great  talents.  Such  per- 
severance and  energy  are  worth  more  than  the 
higher  education  gained  at  the  universities  of 
Howard  and  Lincoln,  Fisk  and  Atlanta,  an  edu- 
cation, by  the  way,  which,  if  it  give  him  other 
rights,  does  not  insure  to  the  grandson  of  a 
slave  possessing  it  either  the  privilege  of  enter- 
ing a  drawing-room  or  that  of  a  seat  in  a  box 
at  a  theatre.  He  is  assigned  a  place  fitting  his 
social  rank,  even  on  railroads,  where  we  are  told 


m  THE  UNITED  STATES.  283 

that  there  are  no  first  or  second  classes,  but  where 
you  will  invariably  see  this  insolent  distinction,  — 
"  waiting  room  for  colored  people." 

"  Only  in  the  South !  "  some  one  may  say. 

Allow  me  to  give  an  idea  of  the  feeling  in  the 
North  on  this  point,  to  repeat  an  anecdote  told 
with  much  spirit  by  Mr.  Marshall,  one  of  the 
managers  of  Hampton.  Boston  having  proved  by 
gifts  the  interest  which  she  took  in  the  success  of 
the  Agricultural  Institute,  it  was  decided  that  a 
meeting  should  be  held  in  that  city  on  January  27, 
1870:  General  Armstrong  was  to  go  there  in  com- 
pany with  a  negro  orator,  named  Langston.  The 
latter  arrived  first,  at  night,  at  the  Parker  House. 
When  the  hotel-keeper  found  out  next  day,  to  his 
disgust,  that  he  had  a  colored  man  in  the  house, 
he  made  up  his  mind,  without  the  least  hesitation, 
to  turn  him  out :  unfortunately  the  chief  notabili- 
ties of  the  city  came  to  visit  the  pariah,  just  at  that 
very  moment;  the  order  could  not  be  carried  out 
until  they  had  taken  their  departure;  but  others 
came  and  so  many  of  them  that  the  opportunity 
to  turn  the  negro  out  of  doors  was  lost,  but  Mr. 
Langston  is  the  first  colored  man  who  ever  entered 
the  Parker  House  as  a  guest.  The  same  state  of 
things  exists  in  the  restaurants,  and  the  waiters 
came    near    taking    by  the    collar   "  the   negro " 


284  THE  CONDITION  OF  WOMAN 

who  afterwards  became  United  States  minister 
to  Hayti. 

Even  now,  in  the  liberal  town  of  Boston,  see 
whether  the  lightest  colored  mulatto,  unless  he  be 
some  celebrity  or  lion,  will  dare  take  advantage  of 
the  rights  theoretically  granted  to  him.  Imagine 
a  negro,  even  if  he  were  a  great  man,  aspiring  to 
the  hand  of  a  white  woman,  in  the  East!  He 
would  be  dismissed  with  scorn  to  the  Southern 
ladies,  whose  reply,  gracious  and  attractive  though 
they  may  be,  would  have  all  the  ferocity  of  an 
appHcation  of  lynch  law;  now  we  know  with 
what  refinements  of  cruelty  that  savage  law 
punishes  a  negro  guilty  of  pursuing  a  white 
woman  to  the  last  extreme.  We  have  only  to 
refer  to  the  recent,  shocking  examples  of  which 
the  West  was  the  scene. 

From  North  to  South  and  from  East  to  West, 
the  negro  is  only  tolerated  in  the  United  States 
on  condition  that  he  keeps  his  place,  and  it  will 
become  very  difficult  to  determine  the  place  where 
a  man  is  to  remain  who  in  education  and  career  is 
equal  to  the  most  distinguished,  A  solid  primary 
education,  then  an  industrial  education  therefore 
seems  to  be  what  is  most  to  be  desired  for  the 
colored  population,  in  their  own  interest;  Gen- 
eral Armstrong  saw  this,  although  he  opened  the 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES.  285 

way  for  exceptions  resolved  on  rising  to  greater 

heights,  at  any  cost,  even  that  of  suffering.     Care- 

« 

fully  kept  records  show  the  work  accomplished 
by  his  scholars  scattered  through  the  world,  from 
mere  laborers  to  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  lawyers, 
government  clerks,  and  artists  (there  are  quite  a 
number  of  musicians). 

If  I  have  omitted  to  say  that  out  of  the  six  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pupils  at  Hampton,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  are  Indians,  it  is  because  I  intend  to 
speak  later  of  the  admirable  school  at  Carlisle, 
where  they  are  to  be  found  in  crowds,  with  no 
mixture  of  negro  fellow-pupils.  "  The  friend  of 
the  Indians,"  Miss  Alice  Fletcher,  shall  introduce 
my  readers  to  them,  as  she  really  did  me.  With- 
out the  explanations  kindly  given  me  by  this  chari- 
table and  learned  woman,  upon  the  subject  to 
which  she  devotes  her  life,  I  should  but  feebly 
have  understood  the  beauty  of  the  work  of  Capt. 
R.  H.  Pratt,  the  rival  of  General  Armstrong,  we 
may  say  his  associate  in  the  work  of  elevating  the 
"  despised  races." 


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